Shelter for Sophie: Badge of Honor, Book 8

by Susan Stoker

  But he’d just informed her they wouldn’t be making love until he was cleansed of the evil spirits who’d taken up residence in his body. He knew she didn’t believe what he did, but he was one hundred percent sure of what was going on within him. The carbon monoxide, the fire, the unbreakable window…it was too obvious.

  “The Enemy Way ceremony is used to dispel foreign ghosts and spirits from the body. Many Navajo soldiers who have served overseas undergo this ceremony when they get back. It returns equilibrium within the body.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “The ceremony?” Chief asked in surprise.

  “Yeah.”

  “No, Soph. It doesn’t hurt. Not at all. I’d never ask you to do something that would cause you pain.”

  “Okay.”

  Chief took a deep breath and shared some of his culture with his woman. “This ceremony is relatively unique amongst my people, as there is more than one singer present. We abstain from sex to make sure the evil spirits can’t escape before they can be permanently expelled. There’s a lot of historical stuff that goes into the ceremony, which we can get into later, but I’ll be covered in black charcoal to mimic the clothes that the Monster Slayer wore into battle.”

  “M-Monster S-Slayer?” Sophie asked.

  Chief took hold of her hand and rested it on his thigh as he drove. “Yeah, part of that historical stuff I’ll explain later. But it’s harmless and a part of the ceremony. Paintings are drawn on the ground, which I’ll kneel on. I’ll be given an emetic and the elders will chant and sing over me as the spirits are expelled. At the end of the ceremony, everyone steps outside and breathes in the clean dawn air four times.”

  Sophie wrinkled her nose. “An emetic?”

  Chief chuckled. He should’ve known that wouldn’t slip by her. Not with her medical knowledge. “Throwing up isn’t my favorite thing to do, but the evil spirits will hide out wherever they can to avoid being expelled. Vomiting is a surefire way to make sure they’re expelled once and for all.”

  “Hmmmm. It doesn’t s-sound too bad.”

  “It’s not. I know this is all outside your comfort zone, but all you’ll have to do is be there with me. Kneeling by my side, holding my hand. By keeping the connection between us, any evil spirits I’ve transferred to you will be expelled right along with the ones inside me.”

  “Done,” Sophie said firmly.

  “Not just holding my hand, but to ensure that our connection isn’t broken, you’ll be tied to me,” Chief warned.

  “Oooh, kinky,” Sophie joked.

  “I’m not kidding.”

  “I know. And I’m s-sorry for m-making a joke. Chief, you can tie m-me to you whenever you want. There’s no place I’d rather be than by your s-side. And if doing this ceremony with m-me there will m-make you feel better, will reassure you, then I’m all for it.”

  “I don’t deserve you.”

  “Yes, you do,” she countered immediately. “We deserve each other.”

  Chief smiled at her. “You’re right. We do.”

  “I know,” she replied, a big smile on her face. “Now…tell m-me m-more about what to expect when we get there. I don’t want to s-say the wrong thing to anyone.”

  As they traveled through Texas and New Mexico, they spent the next two days talking about his people, his customs, and how they’d changed over the years. He told Sophie all about his mother and how excited she was to meet the woman who owned the other half of her son’s soul.

  * * *

  Three days later, Sophie knelt on the ground next to Chief and winced every time he bent over to throw up. She knew all about why he was doing it, but it was still hard to witness and not try to do anything to help him.

  He was wearing a loincloth—which she was totally going to make him put on again when they got home, purely for her benefit—and covered in black goo. Older Navajo men had been singing and chanting around them for hours…at least that’s what it seemed like to her.

  She felt Chief squeeze her hand. She returned the gesture and immediately felt better. He might be throwing up, but he wasn’t out of his head. She’d been worried about that.

  Her mind wandered as the singing continued.

  When they’d arrived on the Navajo lands, Sophie had been surprised by the level of poverty all around her. Intellectually, she knew about reservations, but seeing one in person was completely different.

  When they’d pulled up to the area Chief had grown up in, after seeing mile after mile of sparse houses and how poor the area was, she’d been ready.

  Chief pulled up outside what she knew was a hogan and an elderly wrinkled woman had come flying out of the door toward them. Chief had engulfed the woman in his arms and swung her around in circles.

  Then he’d put her down, turned to Sophie, and introduced them.

  “Shimá, this is Sophie. The other half of my soul.”

  “Yá'át'ééh,” Sophie said slowly, pronouncing the Navajo word for hello as “yacht-a.” Then in English, she said, “It’s nice to m-meet you.”

  Chief’s mom had let loose a string of Navajo Sophie would never understand and hugged her. Sophie had put her arms around the older woman and looked over at Chief helplessly.

  He’d laughed. “Come on, Shimá, let her go. You’ll squish her.”

  His mom had pulled back, taken her by the hand and dragged her toward the house. “Come, my daughter, let us talk.”

  They’d spent the rest of the evening talking with his mom. She’d been introduced to dozens of people Chief had called his brother- and sister-cousins. He’d explained that they weren’t related by blood, but because they grew up in the same group of houses, they were as close as any true family members would be.

  For the most part, the reunions were subdued because it seemed everyone knew why Chief had come home; specifically, to go through the Enemy Way ceremony.

  They’d left to spend the night at a rundown hotel about twenty miles from his mom’s house, and when Sophie had protested, Chief had told her in no uncertain terms that she would not be spending the night in the dirt in his mom’s open hogan. When she’d tried to tell him she didn’t mind, he said that he did. And that was that.

  Truth be told, Sophie wanted to have Chief to herself. She was nervous about the long ceremony that was to take place the following night, and being around strangers was still difficult for her, even if not one person had seemed to care that she stuttered.

  The singing around them stopped and Sophie blinked. Had she fallen asleep sitting up next to Chief?

  She heard chuckling, and when she eyed Chief, saw that he was laughing at her.

  “Almost done,” he whispered, a toneless sound she might not’ve heard if she wasn’t looking right at him.

  Sophie nodded at him and groaned softly when Chief helped her to her feet. She stumbled and would’ve fallen against him if he hadn’t caught her.

  “The evil spirit leaving your body makes you weak,” one of the elders explained. “It has sapped all your energy, trying to cling to your soul. Once you breathe the clean dawn air four times, you will sleep. You will be cleansed when you wake.”

  Sophie nodded. A nap sounded really good. She was exhausted. She had no idea what time it was, only that they’d started the ceremony the night before after it got dark.

  She followed Chief out of the elder’s hogan and gasped at the beautiful sight before her. She knew this part of the country was pretty, but what she was seeing went beyond that. It was breathtaking. The sun was just beginning to rise and the pinks and oranges of the land were highlighted as if painted on the distant mountains with a paintbrush.

  “Breathe with me, shi ásdząą,” Chief ordered.

  Sophie’s eyes went to his and she mimicked him. Taking four deep breaths right along with the man at her side.

  When they were done, the elders began to speak in Navajo, but Sophie only had eyes for Chief. She felt different. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt lighter, as if there really
had been something inside her…a sort of parasite.

  Chief turned and put one arm around her, pulling her into his chest. He brought their clasped hands, tied at the wrist, between them. As Chief’s people spoke to one another around them, Sophie closed her eyes and melted into the man she couldn’t live without. She knew the black stuff that had been smeared on Chief’s body was getting all over her, but she didn’t care.

  “Tired, shi ásdząą?” Chief asked quietly.

  “Yeah.”

  “They’re gone,” he said.

  “The s-spirits? Sophie asked, even though she knew what he was talking about.

  He nodded against her head.

  “I feel it too,” she admitted.

  “You do?”

  “Uh huh. I didn’t think I would. I m-mean, I’m not s-sure I really believe what you do. But at the m-moment, all I can feel is your love inside m-me. It’s as if it’s grown until it’s filling m-me up from head to toe.”

  “I feel exactly the same way,” he reassured her.

  Sophie picked her head up and looked at him. “Is that normal?”

  “I have no idea. First, I’ve never had to have this ceremony done to me before, and second, I’ve never loved anyone in my entire life the way I love you.”

  She smiled. A slow, teasing smile. “Does this m-mean I can finally m-make love to you again?”

  He returned her smile. “Yeah, Soph. That’s what it means.”

  “Awesome.”

  “Come. Follow me.”

  Sophie turned to see one of the elders standing by their side. Confused, she glanced at Chief. “I thought we were going back to the m-motel?”

  “We are. After a nap. It’s a part of the ceremony, just go with it,” Chief said softly.

  Mentally shrugging, Sophie followed behind her man and the elder. She was tired. Wasn’t she just saying a nap would feel good?

  The man led them into a small hogan, large enough for only a pallet off to the side and a fire pit in the middle of the small space.

  The elder man lit the fire, making sure it was roaring nicely before clasping them both on a shoulder, nodding, then leaving.

  Sophie turned and eyed Chief up and down. “No s-shower?”

  He chuckled. “Unfortunately, no. The black makes sure the evil spirit doesn’t make its way back into my body as I’m recuperating.” He held out his free hand. “Sleep with me?”

  “As if you have to ask,” Sophie said, putting her other hand in his. “Besides, I’m s-still tied to you. It’s not like I can go anywhere,” she joked.

  They stood together, facing each other.

  “It’s gonna get hot in here,” Chief informed her. “They’ll keep the fire stoked for at least an hour. We believe that sweating while we sleep removes the last traces of the evil spirit that dwelled within our bodies. You okay with that?”

  “Will there be a s-shower at s-some point in our future?” Sophie asked teasingly.

  “Most definitely. You think my OCD will be able to stand this junk on me for too much longer?” Chief teased right back.

  “Then come on. Let’s hurry up and s-sleep s-so we can wake up, s-shower, get back to the m-motel and you can m-make love with m-me.”

  They settled onto the surprisingly comfortable pallet on the floor of the hogan and Chief pulled Sophie into his arms.

  “Ayóó ánííníshní.”

  “Ah yo, Ah knee nesh yay,” Sophie said quietly.

  Within moments, both were sound asleep.

  Months later, the elders would still talk about the stray dog that showed up out of nowhere when Chief and his woman were sleeping after the Enemy Way ceremony. It was a dog like none they’d ever seen in their area of the reservation. An Australian Shepherd. Gray, speckled with white around its snout. It lay down outside the hogan Chief and his woman were sleeping in, as if standing guard.

  An hour after it showed up, it simply disappeared. One moment it was there, the next, it was gone. No one had seen it get up and leave, but no one had seen it not get up and leave either. It was finally decided that it was a spirit guide. Watching over the couple inside the hogan. Helping to ensure the evil that had taken residence inside them was banished for good.

  * * *

  After waking up from their nap, feeling surprisingly refreshed, Chief had taken one look at the woman in his arms and burst out laughing. Sophie was smeared with the charcoal from his body, and it had run in rivulets down her length as they’d slept…and sweated…then dried again.

  She was a complete mess, and he couldn’t love her more.

  They took a quick shower at his mom’s house, simply to rinse the worst of the charcoal off, then had taken their leave. His mom had cried, but he’d promised they’d be back soon.

  He’d driven back to their motel, stopping at a pizza place he’d loved as a kid to pick up a large pepperoni pie, since it had been a while since either of them had eaten. When the owner had seen Chief, he almost burst into tears with happiness at seeing him again.

  Almost thirty minutes had been taken up with the reunion. Sophie had simply looked on with a small, contented smile on her face, not at all put out by the delay.

  Finally, he’d torn them away from the older Navajo man, who’d been so pleased to see Chief again he hadn’t charged him for the pizza. They’d gone back to the motel room, showered again, ate, and were once more lying in each other’s arms. Both of them naked this time. Skin to skin.

  The bed was lumpy, and the room smelled questionable, but Chief didn’t even notice. He was propped up over Sophie with his head resting on his hand and his other caressing her gently.

  He smoothed a lock of Sophie’s blonde hair behind her ear. “You good?” he asked softly.

  “I’m m-more than good,” she reassured him. “You?”

  “Same.” Then without another word, Chief slowly leaned down, keeping eye contact with her until their lips met. Then they both closed their eyes and lost themselves in the kiss.

  It started out soft and sweet, a declaration of sorts, but quickly turned carnal. Chief took Sophie’s head between his hands, holding her still for his mouth, and devoured her. He turned her this way, then that, controlling her movements so he could get as deep as possible inside her.

  Chief felt his cock pulse against her. His pre-come leaking out the tip as if it knew exactly what it wanted. He pulled back just enough to say, “I need you.”

  “Ditto,” she said, trying to pull his head back down to hers.

  “Now, Soph. I need you now,” he insisted.

  “Then take m-me,” she said simply, spreading her legs under him.

  Chief’s cock brushed against her public hair and the pleasure was so great, it was as if she’d reached down and caressed him with her hand. He shut his eyes at the carnal feelings coursing through him. “You ready for me?”

  “Yes.”

  Without another word, Chief reached down and fit the tip of his naked cock to her opening and pushed all the way inside in one quick thrust. There was no resistance, her wet body accepting him as if she’d done so her entire life.

  When he could get inside her no farther, Chief groaned and opened his eyes. As he slowly moved in and out of her body, he vowed, “Ayóó ánííníshní.”

  “I love you too,” Sophie returned immediately.

  He said it again. Then again. Letting her know over and over how much he loved her.

  And every time he said it, Sophie repeated the words right back.

  When he felt himself reach the end of his control, Chief said, “I’m gonna fill you with my come, shi ásdząą. And then I’m gonna do it again. I want to share my very being with you. My untainted essence this time.”

  “Do it,” Sophie moaned. “I want it. I want you inside m-me. I already feel as if you’re a part of m-me, but this’ll s-solidify it.”

  On the edge, but wanting Sophie’s orgasm to take him all the way over, Chief snaked a hand between their bodies and tweaked her clit with his thumb. Her
legs immediately spread even farther apart and she ground herself against his finger. “Yes, Chief. There, oh God, yes.”

  He flicked her clit once, then twice. The third time was all it took. She trembled under him as she flew over the edge, her fingernails digging into his arms as she broke apart.

  Her body clenched down on his so tightly, Chief immediately orgasmed. The come shot up from his balls and out of the tip of his cock so hard he could imagine it splashing against the mouth of her womb, his sperm fighting to get inside and impregnate her.

  The thought of Sophie round with his child only prolonged Chief’s pleasure. He held himself still as he came down from his orgasmic high and finally lowered himself on top of Sophie. He felt his cock softening, but pressed his hips against hers, making sure he didn’t slip out. He wasn’t done with his woman, as he’d warned her. He’d rest right where he was until he was ready for round two.

  “Do you hear that?” Sophie whispered into the silent room.

  “What?” Chief asked quietly.

  “Drums.”

  He cocked his head and closed his eyes. Then smiled. “Yeah, shi ásdząą, I hear them.”

  “I heard them right before you s-showed up in the fire. What do they m-mean?”

  “It means the gods approve of our union. It’s a blessing.”

  “Oh…okay then.” She was quite for a moment, then asked, “Think they’ll keep playing if we do that again?”

  Chief chuckled. He loved his woman’s sense of humor. “Don’t know. Why don’t we find out?”

  She smiled up at him. “Yeah, good plan.”

  It was a long time before the couple was sated.

  They didn’t hear the drums again, not that night, or any other, but both knew without a doubt they’d been blessed by Chief’s ancestors.

  Epilogue

  “Tell me what I read in the paper wasn’t true,” Erin ordered Sophie as she approached the bar to collect the next round of drinks for their group. It was two weeks after the fire and approximately a week after she and Chief had returned from New Mexico.