A Shepherd in France Ch. 02

Daniel buttered his bread but Ben used it to soak up the delicious sauces. He was assured that the alcohol was long evaporated in the coq au vin as it had been prepared the day before and slowly reheated over the afternoon to be prepared for dinner.

Conversation centered on their time in Paris, the things they saw and what shopping they did. Béatrice asked about the beautiful rings she saw the two women wearing and Gabriella asked Daniel to get his camera to play the movie of the ring ceremony for them. Ben made to protest but was overruled by everyone else. Daniel dashed upstairs and returned quickly with his tablet which he'd loaded the movie files onto. He queued it up and handed it to Alexis. Béatrice got up and went to Alexis' side to watch with her. Stephanie listened in as did everyone else at the table. Ben ate quietly trying to avoid the admiring eyes watching him.

When it finished playing Alexis and Béatrice were both in tears but were confused by his admission of love to three separate women. Especially since he asked one to marry him!

Stephanie was smiling as tears ran down her cheeks. "That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard," she said softly and Gabriella leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Stephanie can explain it to you later," Gabriella said to Alexis as she looked questioningly at her cousin.

"Show them the dance!" Sophia called to Daniel. He grinned and took back the tablet to queue the file. He handed it back and the women watched Sophia and Ben glide effortlessly around the beautiful ballroom in Versailles.

"He does renovations and dances like this?" Alexis gasped incredulously. "Ben! You're staying with us in France!"

Protests immediately erupted from the group and everyone ended up laughing. Ben blushed in embarrassment.

They finished their meal and Marie brought out the dessert.

Finally Ben pushed back well satisfied. He turned to the cook. "Marie that was an absolutely fabulous meal! You are indeed a master chef!" There was a round of applause and the woman grinned and blushed.

Alexis and Béatrice helped Marie clean up and they shooed their guests out into the sitting room.

"Ben, will you pose for me now?" Stephanie asked shyly.

"Oh! Ok. Don't you need that armature thing and the clay?" he asked.

"For when I begin to work on the actual sculpture yes but right now I need to determine the pose I want to do," she explained.

"Alright. How do we do that?" he asked.

"We'll need privacy. I suggest we use your room."

Ben walked over to her side and placed her hand on his arm and led her to the stairs. They went up to the third floor and down the hall to his room. Once inside Ben dropped his hands to his side and looked at her helplessly. "I have no idea how this works."

She smiled. "First off you should just relax. This isn't difficult at all. I just need to map you in my mind so I can form a complete image. Then we will select a pose that you can hold comfortably for when I begin the final mapping. When I have an accurate image in my mind I can do the work without your involvement... aside from the occasional remapping should I need to refresh it."

"How do you do the mapping?" he asked curiously.

"By touch like I did with your face, shoulders and chest earlier," she said.

"Ah."

"You should get undressed."

"What?" he jolted.

"I can't map you through your clothes," she said reasonably.

"I have to be naked?" he asked uneasily.

"I'm making art. This isn't porn," she said frankly.

"Right. Uh, ok," Ben said and began to undress. It was a little unnerving as she was looking right at him. While he knew she couldn't see him that didn't detract from the odd sensation of getting naked in front of a woman he'd just met. He looked over at the beautiful figurines of the dancers she'd made and took strength from the example of her skill. Plus the faces of the dancers were minimal so it was going to be somewhat abstract. He was fine with that.

Once he was undressed he stood before her with his hands clasped before him. Then he realized that was dumb so he dropped his hands.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry, yes," Ben froze as he realized he was somehow expecting her to know he was naked.

"Relax. I have done this before. All you need to do is stand still," she said with a smile as she stepped forward with her hands outstretched. They landed on his chest so she moved them up. "I'm going to begin at the top and work my way down."

Ben held still and watched the intense look of concentration on her face as she gently ran her slender fingers over his scalp, around his ears, and onto his face. He closed his eyes for this part as she spent more time on his face than he expected. She seemed particularly interested with mapping out the extent of his scar.

When her fingertips reached his lips he opened his eyes and saw a wistfulness pass over her face so he playfully stuck his lips out in an exaggerated kissed. She smiled and moved on to discover the shape of his jaw. The intense concentration returned.

Once more she read the surface of his chest and memorized each scar, its shape and location. She stepped around him and moved her hands to the top of his shoulders and ran them over the muscles of his back.

"No scars here," she murmured.

"I've always faced my attackers," he responded and her hands paused then moved on.

She moved to his left side and ran her fingertips down his arm pausing at the scars and being careful of the stitches. She did his right arm then moved to kneel in front of him. She placed her fingers on his stomach and paused.

"Relax," she said and he realized he had been tensing up so he closed his eyes and willed his muscles to unclench.

He understood this was for art and wasn't supposed to be sexy but his body wasn't so cultured. It was only aware that a pretty woman was touching him very intimately. A specific part of him began to wake up.

"I'd prefer to map this area while it's at rest," she said with a grin as she touched his thick cock. Her expression changed as she realized his size.

"You're big!" she gasped.

"You say that a lot," he joked, trying to deflect his embarrassment.

She snorted and started to giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the sound. "I suppose I do," she replied when she got control of herself.

By this point Ben's cock was reaching full rigidity so she moved her hands down and discovered the contours of his balls. Ben gasped.

"Sorry," she said and slid her hands over his thighs.

When she slid them around to his ass and lightly mapped out the musculature there she was leaning in so he felt her breath on his cock. It throbbed in reaction and he bit his lip to keep from moaning.

Her hands moved down his legs and she eventually played them over his feet. She sat back on her heels and he watched her forming the image in her mind.

"Ok, I'm done so I'm going to go back to my room and work on the design. Tomorrow morning I will need to get you to do the pose I choose and I'll do my final mapping to ensure it matches the image I have. Then I can begin," she explained.

"So I can get dressed now?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yes, for now."

He helped her stand and she made her way to his door. "Good night," she said.

"Good night."

She opened the door and stepped out. Ben realized he was standing in plain view of the doorway completely naked and Rachel was just coming out of her room with a sweater in her hand. Her eyes locked on his then dropped to his erection and widened in shock. Ben jumped forward and closed his door, cursing at himself for his carelessness. He pulled his clothes on and opened his door again but Rachel was gone. He went downstairs and followed the sound of voices until he found the group outside sitting in comfortable looking chairs positioned in a circle around a beautiful fire pit out on the lawn in front of the house. There was one open chair between Rachel and Sophia and both women were looking at him with knowing smiles.

The darkness hid Ben's deep blush as he took his seat. The chairs were close enough to each other that the armrests touched so when Ben sat down he was surprised to feel hands taking a gentle hold of his. He looked at Sophia who had a coy smile on her lips then over to Rachel who was looking back at him while she ran the tip of her tongue across her lower lip. He felt a spark shoot from her hand through his arm directly to his cock which hadn't calmed down yet. She smiled as she felt his involuntary twitch.

"How did the posing go?" Alexis said with a grin.

"What? Oh, ok I guess. It wasn't what I was expecting," Ben mumbled.

"But you rose to the challenge, right?" Rachel said with a sly grin.

Sophia snorted and looked away.

Ben blushed harder and was grateful for the firelight painting everything deep yellow and orange.

"I understand you will be gracing our gazebo with another dance with Sophia," Béatrice said with a smile.

Ben was grateful for the change of subject. "Yes, I'm looking forward to it. The gazebo is beautiful!"

"We built it for Stephanie. Sound of Music was her favorite movie. She knows all the songs and she used to dance..." Alexis began enthusiastically but ended with a sad look. Ben looked at Gabriella.

"Stephanie was an artist and a dancer when she was a child but by the time she reached her mid-teens she began to lose her sight. Retinitis Pigmentosa. She was completely blind by age twenty. She's thirty five now and seems very well adapted to her new life," she explained.

The group was quiet and Sophia broke the sad reflection when she stood up and reached her hand out to Ben. He smiled and took it as he stood up. Gabriella whispered to Alexis who looked surprised then nodded and moved off into the house. Daniel raced into the house ahead of her. The rest followed Sophia and Ben to the gazebo and sat on the benches at the edges while the two moved to the center of the floor.

Daniel ran up to the gazebo with his camera in his hand and began to record them. Rachel used her phone to queue up a music track, something classical. Sophia moved and he moved with her. She instantly smiled as she realized he was in perfect sync with her. The space for dancing in the gazebo wasn't close to the space they'd had at Versailles so they had to constrain their movements. Even so, it was still beautiful to see them step and spin to the music.

Sophia had a natural grace and Ben moved with a smooth power that made the watching ladies smile and squirm.

When the piece ended Ben bowed to Sophia and she curtseyed.

The rest applauded as Alexis arrived with Stephanie on her arm. Alexis was all smiles having seen the last minute or so of the dance but Stephanie looked tense. Ben walked over to her and took her hand.

"I understand the gazebo is yours. I think it's time you took it back. Will you dance with me?" he asked gently.

A look of surprise played over her face then a smile stretched across her mouth. She nodded and he led her to the middle of the floor. She leaned in and whispered to him and he made an agreeable sound. He held her close and they began to move. The movements were bold and sinuous, flowing around the limited space they had. He controlled their position in the space and she their moves. Ben wasn't familiar with the dance Stephanie was performing but his body reacted to her movements automatically and naturally. He had the oddest sensation of being detached from his body, like he was standing back and watching somebody else moving him.

Then he saw himself as an eleven year old dancing with a petite older woman who moved like smoke. Her motions were mesmerizing and her smile was a picture of bliss. They flowed together and swept around the room faster and faster as this was what she was meant for. Not to be the housewife of some crude machinist. She was meant for the stage!

"Ben?"

"BEN!"

"Huh? What?" He blinked and saw he was leaning over Stephanie in a deep dip. She was breathing fast and her eyes were wide. He lifted her back to her feet and she clung to his chest as she panted. He was surrounded by the others and Daniel was still filming.

They were standing on the grass on the front lawn, well outside of the gazebo.

"How did we get here?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella and Catherine shared a worried look. Stephanie leaned her forehead against Ben's chest and reached her arms around him to give him a big hug. He looked down and hugged her in return.

When she pulled back her face was glowing! "That was WONDERFUL!" she cried. "I haven't danced like that in years! It was so freeing! It felt like we were flying! Oh Ben, I'm going to sculpt the hell out of you!" she giggled, drunk on adrenaline.

Alexis and Béatrice looked at Gabriella and collected Stephanie from Ben. They walked her back to the house.

"Who taught you to dance, Ben?" Gabriella asked gently.

"Mrs. Cosburn."

"BEN!"

He looked up from his seated position on the grass at the frightened expressions of the women kneeling next to him.

"What happened?" he moaned as he held his head. He had a thumping headache.

"Does your head hurt?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, a lot."

"I think that's enough excitement for tonight. Time for bed everyone," Gabriella said. She and Catherine helped Ben to his feet and held his arms as they led him back into the building and up to his floor. They took him into his room and closed the door. He brushed his teeth, took off this clothes and climbed into bed while they watched. He was still a bit dazed. Gabriella leaned over him and gave him a kiss then Catherine did the same. He closed his eyes and seemed to drift off.

The two friends stepped out into the hall. Daniel was standing there. "I got the entire thing on film mom. Maybe his doctor should see it."

"Good thinking! Can you send it to her somehow?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, I can render a smaller version then upload it to my cloud account and send her a link," he said then grinned at his mother's blank look. "Yes, if you give me her email address."

"You could have started with that," she scowled. "I'll send you her address." She looked at Catherine. "I think I'm going to give Hannah a call. She's probably still at her office. Let's go down to the living room to make the call." Catherine nodded and the others went to their rooms to prepare for bed.

Alexis and Béatrice met them at the base of the stairs. "Is Ben ok?" Alexis asked with a worried expression.

"He should be fine in the morning. He has some repressed memories which surfaced a few months back and they seemed to submerge again after he was stabbed. They seem to be leaking out again. We're going to call a friend of ours, another neighbor who is also the hospital administrator where Ben's doctor works," Gabriella said and they all walked into the living room.

Gabriella dialed the number and listened for Hannah to pick up.

"Hannah Cooper."

"Hannah? It's Gabriella. Can I put you on speaker?"

"Gabriella! Sure, wait! Aren't you still on vacation? Has there been some trouble?" Hannah blurted.

Putting the phone on the coffee table Gabriella turned on the speaker phone. "Can you hear me clearly?"

"Yes, now what's wrong? Is Ben ok?" Hannah insisted.

Alexis and Béatrice smiled hearing the concern in her voice and Catherine nodded.

"I have Catherine with me as well as my cousin Alexis and her wife Béatrice. Ben is fine but his repressed memories are beginning to resurface again," Gabriella explained.

"Hello everyone! How did it happen this time?" Hannah asked.

"He was dancing. He dances beautifully but he couldn't recall who taught him. Tonight he was dancing with my cousin Stephanie and his face went blank and he began to dance faster and faster and left the gazebo entirely to dance outside. We had to chase after them. When he surfaced from the trance he didn't know how he'd gotten outside and when I asked him again who taught him he said Mrs. Cosburn and dropped to the ground like a stone. Scared the hell out of us. He surfaced immediately with a bad headache so we brought him inside and put him to bed. He went out like a light. I'll get Daniel to send you and his doctor a link to the video he took of the event."

"You got it on video? Excellent!" Hannah said. "Any chance you can bring him back early?"

"I seriously doubt Ben would agree to that. We still have a week to go but he's going to stick close to the chateau for the next two days doing renovations and you know how therapeutic that is for him," Gabriella said and Alexis looked pleased.

"Yes, that will do him a world of good," Hannah agreed and Alexis' smile just got bigger and Béatrice held her hand.

"Please let Ben know that Trish picked up Tina and Lucy at the airport yesterday and all are good. We all met them at Ben's place last night. That's when she told us the news about their baby and getting engaged. The ring is stunning! Shocked the hell out of Trish! I've never seen her so stunned. Tina had a talk with her and afterwards there was a lot of happy tears. Rochelle also seemed a little upset but Tina set her straight as well. For a submissive she certainly can be a force to reckon with!"

"She's protecting Ben's heart. No one is as fierce as Tina when it comes to protecting Ben," Gabriella said with a smile.

"Listen, thanks for giving me a call. You know I was one of the people trying to get Ben to postpone the trip. I know he needs the distraction and relaxation but I'm still worried about his state of mind," Hannah said.

"We're keeping a close eye on him Hannah. We'll keep you in the loop if there are any other changes," Gabriella said and everyone said their goodbyes.

"I'm a little too wired to go to bed now," Catherine said.

"How about a drink? I have a delightful red wine that serves well as a nightcap," Béatrice suggested.

She got three smiles as her answer.

Chapter 12

Rachel was tossing in her bed. She was worried about Ben. As amazing as he looked naked, and erect, all she could think about was how the guy was being tormented by his childhood memories. His doctor had some ideas of what they were and maybe Hannah knew but they hadn't shared that with them so she felt powerless to help him.

She needed to talk to someone. She looked over at Megan who was snoring softly. Maybe Sophia was up. Rachel slipped out of bed and left her room, closing the door silently behind her. She padded down the hall and stopped when she heard something. Someone just cried out in fear. She moved forward and realized it came from Ben's room. She opened the door and stepped inside. He was sitting up in bed wide eyed, gasping for breath and shaking. Her heart went out to him.

"You ok, Ben?" she said gently. His head turned in her direction but he didn't say anything. She got closer to the bed and in the dim light saw his eyes were casting around like he was looking for the danger that awoke him. Then she noticed that he'd kicked his sheets down and he was naked again. Pulling her eyes away from that she moved closer and reached out to place her palm on his cheek. He immediately leaned against it and began to relax. Before she could move his arm swept out and pulled her onto the bed and tucked her up against the side of his body.

Rachel gasped as the heat of his body pressed against her. God he felt good! She looked up and his eyes were closed. She felt his trembling stop as his body relaxed.

She tried to extricate herself but his arm just tightened when she moved away. She glanced down and saw she'd left the door open. Hopefully her mom and Gabriella would be back soon and would look in on him. Then they could help her get loose.

She relaxed against him as she really had no other choice at the moment. He felt so good. She'd just rest her eyes until her mom found her. Sleep dragged her under quickly.