Frozen Holidays 1& 2 Eudorus and Zelus (2 page)

He took her arm and with his other hand took
Danny’s hand and he led them around the corner to a small café. The
food there was very good and the smell hit his nose as soon as he
opened the door. He ushered them to a booth in the corner where he
could see the door. Old habits never died.

“I eat here a lot and I can suggest something
if you’re not sure what you want,” Ros offered. “By the way, my
name’s Ros.” He held out his hand and she took it.

“I’m Jen, short for Jenna,” she replied as
she shook his hand.

Ros was pretty proud of himself. Now that he
had her name, he would find out more about her. He already knew she
worked for New Beginnings which was a company that had broken off
from Origin. They had one or more of his brothers hidden and he was
keeping their office under surveillance to see who came and went,
find their employees, and hopefully use what they found out to free
the gods kept in captivity. He didn’t know what Jen did, but he
knew she had no idea what kind of people she worked for.

They sat with their drinks waiting for food.
“So Jen, you know what I do, what do you do everyday?”

“I work for New Beginnings,” she turned red
and looked at her stomach. “They’re a fertility company. I’m a
secretary and I make appointments for customers and do billing. I
didn’t have much experience so I started at entry level.”

Ros looked at her stomach too as she spoke.
So they were up to their old tricks as fertility experts. They had
been caught before, when they used the name Origin, working with
couples desperate to have children. Unknown to the parents, they
had strengthened the embryos with DNA from gods. Most of the
desperate people probably wouldn’t have minded the extras added to
make the embryos viable, but the gods hadn’t volunteered their DNA.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want kids, they just wanted those kids
to be truly theirs. They wanted to live with them and raise
them.

They ordered their food and when it came
Danny ate his so fast that Ros feared he’d be ill. Jen ate slowly,
she tried to act like she wasn’t starving. She ate like a lady and
carried on a conversation until Danny was through and he started
chattering almost nonstop. The kid was likeable and fun. His mama,
she was a completely different thing. Ros was drawn in, if he
didn’t know she was taken, he would think she was his. He felt
different when he was near her. He sat next to her and the
delicious feminine scent rolling over him was bringing out the
primitive side of him. He’d spoken to Hades when he was going
through his mating with Doc. It had been difficult but Hades had
made it through and was now a happily mated male. He had described
to Ros how he had felt about the human female, Doc.

Ros had met her and while she was attractive,
he hadn’t felt those strong feelings toward her or any female,
ever. He was feeling them now. Was he the victim of a mistake made
by nature itself? He would go crazy watching this female starving
and being left to take care of herself, her boy, and the child she
carried all by herself but knowing she was meant to be his. How
could this happen, why did she belong to another when he yearned
for her and no other?

If he couldn’t take care of her, he would
make her male step up and do the right thing. Tomorrow he would
find out who he was and maybe even why he wasn’t taking his
privilege and duty seriously. She was watching him. Had she asked
him something and he hadn’t answered?

“I’m sorry, did I miss something?”

She smiled and he caught his breath, she was
so beautiful. “Don’t mind me, I know that Santa’s very busy this
time of year and so are his friends so you’ve probably got a lot on
your mind. I just asked if you cared to come by tomorrow for
breakfast. I work Saturdays but we’re closed on Sunday and
Monday.”

“Only if you’ll let me bring some things with
me.” He wasn’t going to eat all their food when they must not have
much to begin with. This would give him a chance to make sure they
had another good meal and he’d take it.

“You don’t have to do that,” she insisted
flushing again. It took little to get her to turn pink or even red
sometimes.

“I insist,” he said in a tone that allowed no
disagreement. “I’ll walk you home so I know where to go in the
morning. What time?”

“How’s eight? Danny stays up late on Saturday
nights and sleeps in later.”

“Sounds good.” He replied as he reached out
and ran his hand through Danny’s hair, messing it up, before he
grabbed his hand and took him to the counter with him to pay. Jen
waited nervously, but she waited for them even though he expected
her to follow. He paid and bought Danny some candy which delighted
him.

“Best not tell mama. She’s funny about candy
and stuff, it makes her cry.”

“Candy makes her cry?”

“She cried last time I ask for a candy bar.
Maybe she don’t like ‘em.”

Ros felt bad because he had a feeling Jen
didn’t like candy because she couldn’t afford much of it. He wanted
to help her, but he knew he couldn’t step in without confronting
her husband first. It would be so much easier just to take her
away, but it was dishonorable to take another man’s wife. If he
continued to ignore her needs, he would step in anyway. He took
Danny back to Jen then he escorted them home. Their apartment was a
small room and he assumed there was a bathroom. He thought it would
be called a studio apartment with its small kitchenette and only a
bed, small table for two, and a dresser. They said goodnight, but
he would see them again soon.

He thought about what he had noticed in her
apartment and what was missing. It hadn’t been big enough for two
adults and a child. The smell of an adult male was missing and
there was nothing in sight that indicated one stayed there. He
figured her husband traveled with his work and he would think that
excused him from caring for his family. It didn’t as far as Ros was
concerned and he itched to teach the man a lesson.

Chapter 2

Her Life

Jen was a little embarrassed that Ros had
seen the place she and Danny called home. At least it was clean,
and they made it work. They had gotten over the part where he would
be surprised making tomorrow easier for all of them. Life had been
hard on her and Danny. Steve had been a wonderful husband and she
had loved him. Theirs has been a sweet love, not the fire and flame
you read about in the sexy romance novels. It had been good,
gentle, and satisfying. Losing him had hurt, still hurt five months
later.

The baby had been a surprise. She hadn’t
thought she was with child but after passing out at work, Doctor
Raker had broke the news to her. She had never liked him before,
but he had told her the clinic would see to all her prenatal care
and deliver the baby when the time came. It had been surprising
since they didn’t normally do anything for their patients once they
conceived so why would they do it for an employee. Still it was
nice of them so she decided Raker was a nicer man than she had
originally thought. He even let Danny stay with her when he got out
of school at noon.

She knew they didn’t like it but she had told
them she would have to quit for lack of a babysitter so they made
an exception for her. Dr. Raker said she did a good job and they
didn’t want to lose her. She thought it was odd, but with little
job experience no one else would hire her. They only paid minimum
wage, but it was better than nothing at all. She got Danny ready
for bed, she loved that little boy more than anything.

They settled in and he asked for a story. He
didn’t have many books but Jen remembered many stories that her mom
had told her when she was young. Her mother had been a good parent
until her dad died and then the drink and poor choices with men had
basically deprived her of a parent in her teenage years. She missed
her mom, not the drunk that had an unending line of men moving
through her life, but the mother of her youth. That mother had been
loving, sweet, and had cared for her more than for the bottle that
ruled her life now.

She’d met Steve in high school her junior
year and his senior year. He’d signed up as soon as he graduated
and they’d married before he left. Danny had been born just before
Christmas the year she graduated. Steve had been so proud of that
little boy, he would have been proud of this child too. Six months
ago, Steve had walked on to the plane headed to Afghanistan. Two
months later he had returned carried back in a body bag. She had
cried for a solid week, she still cried when she thought of him
dying so far from home, her, and their son.

Tears slipped down her cheeks and she turned
away from Danny trying to get her emotions under control. She felt
Danny’s little arms wrap around her hugging her and supporting her
emotionally. He was such a good little boy. Loving, sweet, and
except for those big blue eyes he’d gotten from her, he was the
picture of his dad.

She told him the story of King Arthur. He
loved tales of swords, kings, and sorcery. It was just the first
part where King Arthur pulled the sword from the stone. Danny’s
eyes just couldn’t stay open any longer. That was okay because she
was tired herself and they had plans for a big breakfast the next
day. She lay down hugging her little boy. She wasn’t sure where the
baby would sleep once he came, but she would worry about that
later. Right now she was just tired and for the first time in a
long while, her stomach was full.

Knock, knock. She heard the sound and
recognized it came from the door but for a moment she couldn’t
think what to do about it. She heard Danny open the door, but it
wasn’t until she heard Ros’s deep sexy voice that she realized she
had company, she wasn’t dressed properly yet, and that Danny had
already let Ros in their apartment.

She sat up quickly and hurried to get
something better than a sleep T-shirt to wear but Ros was right
there in front of her. Her face was so hot she could fry an egg on
it. She was only half dressed and she caught the way Ros was
checking her out.

“Sorry I wasn’t up yet. I usually get up
earlier than this. Do you mind if Danny entertains you while I get
dressed?”

He smiled, damn he was sexy. She was so out
of her element here with a guy that looked like an underwear model.
Not that Steve hadn’t been attractive. He had been but he had been
normal, like the boy next door.

“Sorry, I’m a little early,” he admitted. She
noticed he had two full bags of groceries with him.

“You shouldn’t have brought all that.”

“Don’t you need to get dressed?” he asked
immediately making her remember she was still in her night
gown.

She grabbed something to wear out of the
dresser and hurried to the bathroom. She heard Ros and Danny
talking and laughing as she closed the door. She showered and
dressed in record time. She entered the other room to the smell of
coffee and bacon. Ros was cooking breakfast for them. It made her
feel guilty that he had bought the food and now even had to do the
cooking.

“You shouldn’t have. What can I do to
help?”

“Fix yourself a cup of coffee and you can
keep me company while I finish up,” he said with his usual charming
smile.

“I’m not suppose to drink caffeine.”

“I’ve been told one cup a day won’t hurt a
thing.”

“I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Okay, you win,” he said holding his hands up
in surrender. “Why don’t you have a cup of milk instead. I brought
some. I’m making gravy for the biscuits.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” she said as she got
a cup and poured some milk. “Looks like you’re making a big
spread.”

Ros winked at her. “I eat a lot. More than
you might expect.” She looked at him unconvinced, but he’d make her
a believer. Gods ate more food than body builders. They had high
metabolism and other things that just ran through food.

He fixed a plate for Danny. “Thank you, Ros.
It’s cool that you can cook. I can cook too.”

“You do? What can you cook?”

“I make cereal and toast, but Mama says
she’ll teach me more soon. Ain’t that right Mama?”

“Isn’t that right? You do very well and we’ll
work on peanut butter and jelly next.”

“See, Ros?”

“Why, yes I do. If you get that peanut butter
and jelly down, you can teach me how to do it.”

“You don’t know how?” Danny asked
suspiciously.

“I’m just not very good at it. I make a mess
when I put it all together.”

“Okay, I’ll help you out.”

“We’d better start eating,” Ros said as he
handed Jen her plate and carried his, piled high, to the table.

They sat down and ate. It was comfortable
until Jen thought about eating meals just like this with Steve. He
had even cooked once in a while. There had been a few things he
enjoyed cooking. She tried to hide the tears, but Ros saw them.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” he whispered, his
voice soft.

“Mama does that when she thinks about my
daddy,” Danny said.

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing,” Jen said as she
tried to smile but didn’t quite pull it off.

“Where is he?”

“He’s in heaven with the angels,” Danny
said.

“I’m sorry,” Ros said not knowing what else
to say or do in the face of Jen’s sadness. He turned toward her and
gave her a hug. Danny got up and came around and tried to put his
arms around both of them.

“Hugs help,” he whispered to Ros. Ros felt
like crying himself.

He understood the situation now and he
planned to try to help, if she would let him. He had noticed she
was a proud woman and tried to do what she could herself, but it
was clear to him that she needed help. He would give her that help
because he wanted to. He liked them, her and the boy. He wasn’t
sure what drew him to her, only that something did. The kid, hell
anyone would like him. Lu would get a real kick out of Danny if he
had a chance to meet him. A plan was forming in Ros’s mind. They
would get to know each other and then when his mission was done, he
would talk her into coming with him. They would be a family, her,
the boy, and him. The more he thought about it, the more right it
felt.