A King's Touch Ch. 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.

Dropping the piece of hair he'd been toying with, he gazed into her eyes. "I'm sure you will be." He faked a huge yawn. "I think I'll join you." Draping an arm over her stomach, he pulled her closer until her head rested next his on his pillow. "Better." Closing his eyes, he waited for her to voice her normal protests. When her breathing evened out and she truly slept, he opened his eyes. Thank god. She looks exhausted. Nestled next to him, he couldn't help but savor the closeness she'd been denying him. It reminded him of the time they'd spent a year ago during his sister's mezclar. Before I ripped her world apart once more with my rejection of our chosen's bond. I've been such an utter fool.

* * * *

By the time Gabriel had finished his tale of his parents' long history and their separation, Kóh had allowed him close enough that she was resting her wet head on one narrow shoulder and had one of her hands draped over his arm. Kneeling in front of the shower's seat was not the most comfortable position, but he'd managed to wrap one arm around her back.

A sudden clearing of a masculine throat didn't surprise him.

"We've got company, my willow." He spoke the words softly, so she wasn't startled. She'd calmed but he was scared she'd retreat. When she began to stiffen, he opened himself up and sent waves of positive energy towards her. "It's only Auntie Clara and Master Iason."

"The old man and woman who brought me here?"

"Yes. " Then he pitched his voice down low so only she could hear him. "But I wouldn't call them old, not if you don't want your butt kicked. Master Iason is a Vindexicis master and Auntie Clara just stepped down as the head of her Wizard sect on Venus. Both are more than capable of protecting us and educating us in the error of our ways if we get out of line. Not to mention they're chosens just like us."

A giggle escaped her.

"Come on out of there, you young whippersnapper. Young men of character don't join young ladies of virtue in their showers." Iason's voice was firm. Gabriel caught Kóh's eyes and rolled his. Iason's words sounded every inch the farmer as well as the warrior master that he was.

Auntie Clara broke out into full-blown laughter.

"Iason, quit threatening the boy. Out, children, before both of you turn into prunes." Clara opened the door and twisted off water. "Come, now before the tea gets warm and your father finds the cookies, Gabriel."

Without breaking eye contact with Kóh, he nodded his agreement. "A few minutes Auntie Clara, and we'll both be down."

"Good. Let's go, Iason. Let the children dry off. Gabriel will make sure his Willow makes it downstairs before his rascal of a father eats all the peanut butter cookies."

"Your dad is a cookie hound?"

A wide smile crossed Gabriel's face. "Yes – at least when it comes to peanut butter cookies. We don't have any such delicacies on Venus. When Clara found the recipe in Master Iason's late wife's cookbook, she made a batch and Philip has been eating them as fast as they appear fresh-baked from the oven."

He helped her stand and guided her out of the shower.

"Thanks for sharing with me. What happened to me seems minor compared to the years your mother went through."

"Mom is strong. Stronger than any other woman I've known. I worry though that she might have pushed too hard to find me. Shadow walking is physically hard on anyone."

"Does she like cookies too?"

"Yeah, she and Philip fight over them."

Tucking her wet hair behind her ears, she watched him dry his hair with the towel. His clothes were instantly dried as he muttered a soft spell.

"Cool trick. I'd like to meet your parents, Gabriel. I'd rather find out if they're going to give me hell sooner rather than later. Do you think if we brought them some cookies from downstairs it would soften them up for me?"

"They don't need to be softened up. Mom is going to love you and Philip will do the whole kingly bit and want to protect you. His bark is worse than his bite...at least when it comes to us kids." Grabbing her hand, he dragged her out of the bathroom and then downstairs to the kitchen.

* * * *

Sara burrowed closer to the warmth of the body next to her. Damn - either Gabriel's gotten bigger or I just made the biggest mistake of my life and I'm wrapped around Philip. Wiggling to try to free herself, she brushed against a solid erection. Now that's definitely not Gabriel.

"Keep wiggling, tarta, and all my good intentions are going to go out the window." The husky echo of his sleep roughened voice filled her head.

"I...we...can't..."

"Why, Sara? You're my chosen, just as I am yours. It's the natural way of things. I'm supposed to fulfill your every desire and need." His breath teased the edge of her ear and his arms tightened around her. "I remember how it felt to be buried deep inside of your tight little body. The way you milked me until I could do nothing but give up my seed up to you. God, I've missed you. It's been too many lonely nights since our time together when Charles and Kat's mezclar occurred."

A soft moan escaped Sara as her body reacted to his thoughts. Her nipples tightened and her womb clenched. She could feel her aching pussy preparing for him. "Just stop it, Philip. This can't happen. I'm here because of our bond nothing more. Once we return to Sandova everything will return to normal."

His lips caressed the underside of her jaw. "Understand this, Sara. The first time you use the shadow embrace on me, I'm going to fuck you until you can't walk. I'm that desperate. We'll see how easy it is for you to walk away then."

"Philip..."

A rather insistent knock interrupted them. "Mom, we brought you fresh peanut butter cookies!" Gabriel's voice broke through.

"That boy of ours has rotten timing, tarta. This conversation is far from over."

"I..."

"Did you bring any of those for your old man, Gabriel? Or are they all for your mom? Not that she needs them as sweet as she is." He nuzzled the top of Sara's blond hair before sitting up. He smiled at Kóh, who was standing behind Gabriel. "Hello, Kóh. I'm happy to see you again. Allow me to introduce you to Sara, Gabriel's mother and soon to be my wife."

"When hell freezes over." She sat up and rolled away from him.

"It already has."

Standing next to the bed, she froze.

"When?" She looked over her shoulder at him. Relaxing against the pillows, she swallowed at the picture he made leaning back against the pillows, his chest bare with his hands behind his head.

He gave her a slow smile. "A year ago when you brought me back to life. I'm not letting you go this time. You're mine, Sara."