Back Home (Edited) Book 4 of the Guardians Saga

CH. 15.1 An Increasingly False Tale

Alex gently spread the soothing oil onto Rile's wings, leaning in for a hug and a nuzzle every so often. She moved down to his chest, where an angry red burn marred his otherwise chiseled physique.

"Your perfect chest. This better not scar," Alex mourned. "Let me get the burn ointment."  She fished around in Cale's medic kit and pulled out a small pottery jar.

          "You think my chest is perfect?" Rile asked with a lopsided grin.

Alex dabbed the white ointment on his chest burn. "Stop fishing for compliments. Of course it is."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Everyone likes to have compliments now and then."

          "I'll try to remember that. Hold on." She dampened a cloth and wiped gently on the crusted blood on his face. "I'm sorry!" She apologized quickly at his sharp intake of breath. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't think it was your blood."

          "It's not." He gathered her into another hug and peppered her neck with little kisses.

          Alex giggled. "I'll never finish at this rate. Not that I'm complaining."

          "I'm sorry. It's just," Rile rarely sighed, and it broke Alex's heart to hear it.

          "Don't apologize. You're not the useless hostage who freezes in a fight," Alex said with bitterness and resumed wiping Rile's muzzle.

          Rile kissed across her cheek to her ear before saying, "Are we remembering the same fight? I seem to recall it was you that saved us."

          "You're remembering the end, after I endangered us all."

          But Rile only continued to kiss and nibble on her ear, whispering words of praise and gratitude for her bravery and skill in battle. Their intimate moment only added to the tension between them, making it hard for Alex to focus on anything else but the feel of Rile's lips against her skin and his wings under her hands.

          Alex shivered and cuddled against his chest. "I can manage some purely defensive work, but you're out of luck if you need offense. And I refuse to believe that Cla is a better swordsman than you."

          Rile chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "I guess we'll both be taking more lessons from Rake starting tomorrow morning."

          But we were planning on sleeping in tomorrow." Alex pouted, tracing her glowing finger over Rile's defined chest muscles. "Well, some sleeping."

          He kissed her fingertips. "Day after tomorrow sounds right for starting lessons."

          ***

Daddy Gabe draped his arm around Galen's shoulder, pulling him close after he stepped through the portal. The air was cool and crisp, with a faint scent of patchouli lingering in the atmosphere. "Son!" Gabe exclaimed, his voice filled with pride. "How did you help your Tia this time? How many sword-wielding maniacs did you take out?"

At the touch of his dad's hand, Galen's facade crumbled, revealing a scared little boy who had just discovered that the monsters he feared were real and coming for him. He whispered, "Dad." The one word held all the pain Galen felt and Gabe pulled him into a hug. "I didn't rescue her. She rescued me." Galen laid his head on his dad's shoulder.

          Gabe tightened his embrace, stroking his son's head with his twisted fingers. "I'm so proud of you," he said, fear leaking into his voice. "Your Tia almost died getting you here to me and she did it gladly. She would never hesitate to lay down her life for you because she loved you so much. You're the next generation of Guardian and she and I both are sworn to protect you. It's the way of the world, one succeeds the other."