House was still trying to regain his composure as Jesse pulled on her clothes and fluffed her hair back into place. He watched her dress, grabbing at a piece of apparel here and there and giving her fits when he wouldn't let go. Jesse just looked at him and shook her head. "You are such a little boy at times." She snickered.

"I don't know. I think I prefer you naked in the back seat. Does that sound like a little boy to you?" House fussed as Jesse stopped and gave him an evil look.

"Want another go at it?" She dared him. House only laughed, his head resting on the back of the seat again. "Or did we get every thing 'straight' between us." She joked.

House sighed. "I think we have this behemoth properly broke in and christened."

"And what about you, mi querido?" Jesse started up again with the musical Mexican again and House laughed in spite of himself.

"You are positively evil. Demonic…" Jesse jumped on top of him and started bouncing up and down on the seat. "Possessed…carnivorous…nymphomaniac…" Jesse bounced again and again with each word, both of them laughing uncontrollably as House wrapped his arms around her making her stop. "Jesse…Jesse…" House brushed some more hair out of her face and kissed her. His lips were unbelievably gentle as he pulled her close. "Stop."

"Why, mi querido?" Jesse feigned a pout and House kissed her again.

"Because my heart is still pounding." He gave Jesse one of those comical looks that she found so priceless. Her lover…her clown…House was wonderful, genuine, one of a kind. What a shame he didn't think so most of the time. In time, Jesse thought. The man just needed a woman that wouldn't fail him for a change. She was trying desperately to rise to the occasion for him with each nudge he gave her.

"Actions speak louder than words." Jesse coyly said. "I thought I'd show you instead of tell you. Wasn't that better?"

"I'd say you got your point across. You did a fine job of telling. In two languages." House laughed. "You're very good at that." House said, almost to himself. "I liked it." His hand caressed her face. "Beautiful language…particularly the way you speak it. You can turn the accent off and on like that?"

"Both languages sound silly when spoken with the accent of the other." Jesse laughed.

House thought about it and nodded. His fingers traced the contours of her lips. "You make it sound like a fine piece of music.

"You like my music." Jesse kissed him, running her fingers through his hair.

"Jesse Amarantha, I haven't found anything about you not to like." House said, amazed at the very thought of it. They cuddled in the back seat for a while before House decided to move the party elsewhere. House helped Jesse out of the car and closed the door. He looked back at the expansive front porch. "We didn't get very far did we?" He laughed.

"No. And I should probably grab a sweater or something if we're going down and back again." Jesse hurried inside leaving House to recline against the car in the sunshine. He drank in the sight of the massive wooden structure with its golden accents. How could anyone have had all of this, and Jesse, and still wanted more. It gave him pause for thought, having Jesse.

It sunk in to House's wandering mind. He had Jesse. She was his. None of the bothersome words of possession had even come up but there was little doubt. She was his more than anyone else's in all the world. House smiled at the thought of it. Beautiful, intelligent, worldly…kind…that word lingered for a moment. She might busy herself giving the rest of the world no end of attitude, but the people she was closest to knew her kind and loving nature. House recalled that first meeting in the conservatory. Funny, sassy, but when she sang to him and spoke to him…House closed his eyes against the sunshine and remembered his schoolboy agitation as she walked up to him that day. She was right…such a little boy. He'd felt so awkward in her presence, and Jesse had removed that with a smile and extending her hand to him. She'd found him special from the first. House still wasn't sure how to handle that.

Women were such a mysterious but necessary evil. House still found himself out of place in the presence of some more than others. Jesse had been one of the worst and House hadn't realized it till she'd pulled out of the parking lot that day. He'd been so determined to have a shot at Jesse it hadn't occurred to him until he walked past the ducklings what a monumental coup he'd just managed. And she was nothing more than eye candy to an aging power hungry William Scheulling…

House was finalizing his personal assessment on what an ass William Scheulling must have been when Jesse came flying off the porch with a jacket tied around her shoulders. "All ready now are we?" House asked. Throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"Oh yes. Let's see what we can do to entertain ourselves with the rest of the afternoon."

"Let's wander back down that way. We can take another look at your 'fertility circle,' little girl." House smiled, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Jesse laughed and wandered that way beside him. "We can do that. If you think you're up to it?" Jesse dared him.

The look House gave her was positively evil. "I don't know. I'm kind of shy. You may have to pull that foreign language out of your bag of tricks and talk me into it…my 'cunning linguist'." House snarked.

Jesse shook her head, laughing. "You are so bad…so very, very, bad."

They took their time wandering toward the clearing. Jesse could tell House's leg was starting to ache but he never said a word about it, distracting himself by teasing Jesse and pointing out the odd boat or ship here and there. He was happy to prop himself against a tree when they finally found a place to settle in for a while.

He watched Jesse toss a few stray sticks and limbs from the clearing. "There will be more to clear if we come here for Beltane. There's always more, but I try to be mindful of it whenever I'm here." Jesse rambled on, wandering around the perimeter and getting a feel for things, as best House could ascertain. His curiosity started to get the better of him again.

"This Beltane you speak of, it's all about fertility and nature and all of that. I saw your list on the counter from earlier. Those are the others?"

"Yes, well most of the others. We'd discussed similarities to organized religion and I was listing our Sabbats and showing how the church has incorporated them into their own religion throughout the centuries; Yule for Christmas, Ostara for Easter, etc."

"When's the next shindig?"

Jesse laughed at his reference. "End of the month this year. We have a somewhat rare occurrence of two full moons in a month. We always celebrate the second one. That's where your everyday term 'once in a blue moon' comes from, by the way."

House raised his eyebrows. "I never would have thought…"

"Oh yes, many of our practices are a part of mainstream's everyday goings on."

"What's up and coming on the Wiccan party calendar?" House laughed.

"Summer Solstice is always a big one if the weather's nice. A few lesser ones sprinkle themselves throughout summer till September and then it's the big one, Samhain. You call it Halloween." Jesse glanced in House's direction for a touch of dramatic effect.

"Black cats and broomsticks." House grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"And all the trappings."

"And what is your biggest day of the year all about?"

"It's the Wiccan New Year's Eve. The God passes into the next world to be reborn again at Yule. We say Samhain Eve is when the veil between the worlds is thinnest."

"And what do your people do about this?"

"Celebrate, honor, and remember, most of all celebrate. Ours is a belief in reincarnation. Souls rest, reflect, renew, and return."

"Reduce, reuse, and recycle?" House laughed. Jesse gave him an evil look. "Sorry."

"No you're not." Jesse laughed. "You're so proud of yourself."

"I am." House puffed up and gloated a bit. "That's beside the point. So, that's all there is to your New Year's Eve?" House seemed a tad let down. "What's all the fuss about?"

Jesse did a tiny curtsy to signal a small performance coming. "Oh, no." she shook a finger and smiled. "Those are only the basics. There can be everything from bonfires to formal balls. Some of these gatherings border on mini-conventions and have seminars and conferences and all manner of demonstrations. But the more laid back gatherings are what I prefer. The bonfire would be about here." She walked to the center of the clearing and decided on some theatrics. "We light the bonfire and gather for circle, singing or chanting as we dance around the flames." Jesse did a slow twirl around her imaginary bonfire and continued. When we're ready to start, the High Priestess, that's me by the way, moves to the outside of the group and casts the ritual circle."

Jesse moved away from the center and did a small ceremonial demonstration. "First, ground and center." House watched, fascinated as she snapped her fingers in the same fashion when she did when she worked on his leg. "You draw in the energy and direct it to the boundary you wish to cast with wand or sword." She held out her delicate hand as if clutching one of the objects and did a slow walk around the bonfire. "I cast this circle that we may, honor our dead on this solemn day, and as the day becomes the night let this fire be our light…"

House couldn't resist. He had to get in on the act and at least ruffle her feathers. He eased himself upright from his leaning post against the tree and hobbled toward the circle to see what she might do. Jesse stopped in her tracks, raising the imaginary object to House's throat. He stopped, unsure of the look in her eyes. "Jesse?"

"When in circle, I am addressed as My Lady. Ritual circle is only for followers and those who believe…those who enter in perfect love and perfect trust. You must say this to enter, or you will not be allowed access. How do you enter the circle?"

"What's the secret password?" House leaned down and whispered in her ear. "My Lady?" He kissed her fingers and Jesse started laughing.

"You're no fun." Jesse feigned a pout and House wrapped an arm around her waist

"That's not what you said earlier." House wiggled his eyebrows at her and motioned toward the Rolls. "We'll save the secret handshake and so on for the card carrying members."

"Barbarian! Anyhow, that's the basics for circle and that's enough of that apparently."

"Yes it is. I much prefer Her Ladyship in this context." House pressed his lips to hers. "You can save the theatrics for your big night. I already told you, I prefer the real thing." House caressed her face, his hand sliding down to her jacket."

"That's part of the package, my warm lover. It's very real to me."

"I know. I know." House slipped the jacket from around her shoulders. "It's going to take some getting used to but I'll work on it." House kissed her again. He had no intention of letting another opportunity slip away. "I'm thinking from the 'barbarian' point of view there would be a much better way to allow me to experience the perks of your fertility circle." Jesse watched House toss the jacket carefully on the ground to provide him a seat. Without warning he took Jesse's hand and pulled her to the ground on top of him as he unceremoniously plopped down on the jacket.

Jesse laughed, tumbling into his embrace. "You're horrid."

"We covered that…several times. We're agreed. You love it, remember?" House slipped his hands underneath her top, caressing her breasts. Jesse threw her head back, drinking in the sensation of his expert touch as she perched atop him. Jesse's hands slid down his body, her touch arousing him even more. She watched House close his eyes and drink in the sensation of her as Jesse's hands caressed his body, moving lower.

"I remember..." House heard Jesse whisper as she undressed him. "Mi querido…"

Their surroundings watched over them as they made love. The rhythm of the water to the shore slowed their pace as House got his wish. He and Jesse enjoyed the perks of the fertility circle on a level he could relate to. And his beautiful High Priestess was more than able to express her pleasure…in two languages.

Chapter 25