by Marie Hall
Chapter 4
Io rolled to her back and kicked at the covers. They were piled on so thick as to smother her, but there was only a small hearth in this room and no windows. Sarah picked the most secure room to turn into a bed chamber, but lying alone, it felt more like a cell.
Rolling to her left side, Io eyed the door. She thought Xavier would come back, maybe even share the bed. She thought he intended to share her bed when he started her practicing on bringing herself to that climax. A smile formed and she clamped her thighs together, holding her fingers still before she was distracted away from the loneliness.
It wasn't hard to make her entire body hum. She needed only close her eyes as she drew her fingers over her sex and think of Xavier. She easily imagined his solid, secure feel, his warm woody scent, the heat of his breath on her skin as she worked at her clit. She'd remember how his cock could stretch her in the most pleasant ways as she drove one, then two even four of her own fingers into her slick cunny, trying to recreate the sensations.
Her own moan startled her, and Io jerked her hands to the outside of the covers. She rubbed her face against the pillow before again looking at the door. The total silence beyond it was testament to the late hour as well as to the fact Xavier wasn't coming back. But she wasn't ready to sleep, and she'd a strong need to know Xavier wasn't avoiding her because he'd been forced to set out his own mother.
Kicking the covers down, she swung her feet to the floor and stood. The instructions for moving about the house at night weren't clear, but if she assumed at least one of the men outside her door now was still awake, it was a good chance he'd be able to escort her to wherever Xavier was. Maybe he was already back in the lord's apartments, and she'd join him there despite any damage done to the rooms. She grabbed up the robe, shaking her head as she wrapped it around her. Had he really set the house on fire when she left? Sarah perhaps exaggerated. Io would see for herself.
If he had, it was only more reason to feel the guilt she did for running out on everyone. No matter how many times she was told running was the correct action given what happened, those marks on poor Thomas's back and the fear in the once shining eyes of that boy would never leave her mind. She'd been a coward, and when she abandoned her place here, she left everyone open for attack. Io hadn't thought of it before she left, but she'd never forget her duties to all people here again.
Pulling the door open, she peeked into the hall. The amount of light surprised her as did the number of men, all wide awake, sitting there. The majority of them were currently engaged in a card game, others looked to be paired off for chess and backgammon. Not one man slept but they all stopped doing what they were to look at her when she stepped out of the room.
"Lady Io," the man closest to the door questioned as he folded his cards and stood up. "Did we wake you?"
Io shook her head, a little lost for what to say. She knew men were placed outside her door to give the appearance she was well guarded. The plan was a bit nerve racking both in that everyone believed someone in the house wanted her dead, and they were actually hoping for someone to try something. From time to time, Xavier had her personal guard range anywhere from four to nine men. He now had more than a hundred men at her call. Anyone would drop everything they did to serve at her request. Currently there were twelve men in the hall and Io would guess at least four more at either end. The showing was to be big, but she didn't know it would be more than a showing. She suspected the men would at least sleep. That the men seemed well awake and ready to be so through the night didn't sit well with her.
"Why are you all still awake?" Io asked the same time the man, Cuttler, spoke.
"Did you need something?" he asked, then smiled and indicated Io should speak first.
"No, I could not sleep. I thought maybe to see if Xavier was…" She saw everyone turn towards the door across the hall.
"He is in there, my lady, and I heard him moving about." Cuttler stood and took her hand drawing her further into the hall then right up to the door of Xavier's cabinet. He rapped on the thick wood, and without waiting for a reply, pushed the handle and opened the door.
Xavier was looking right at her as Cuttler drew her through the entry. His intent stare held her in place even as the soldier tried to push her further inside so he could close the door. "Io?" Xavier said, getting to his feet. "Is something wrong?" He moved around the heavily ladened table and Io felt a heat rush straight to her very core just watching him move. Another image she'd add to what she thought about when she enjoyed those pleasures alone. "Io?" He gave a nervous chuckle as he stepped up to her and set his hands on her shoulder to draw her closer. "Are you all right?"
Io leaned in and breathed in that scent she'd been thinking about before she left her room. More than with her imagination, the real thing made her sex clench and she could feel the wetness building.
"Io." Xavier stepped back and looked down at her. "Are you all right? Why are you awake?"
His tone brought her back from her lustful thoughts, and clearing her throat, she looked up. "I am well. I could not sleep. Am I disturbing you?" She looked around now. This once neat room was cluttered with stacks of papers and ledgers as well as bins of maps and even pieces of furniture that Io knew were from their private rooms.
"No, you are not," Xavier said, again pulling her closer. She heard his deep intake of breath as he set his cheek on the top of her head.
"What happened in here?" Could it be Xavier did more than set their bedchambers on fire? A great deal of this mess used to be in the lower solar room where the scribe worked. That man was never neat, but he at least managed to keep all the important documents in some semblance of order.
Xavier pulled away with a sigh, then took her hand and drew her towards the large chair before the fire. "Charlotte took to burning some of the ledgers. Seth and Sarah decided to put all my important documents in here to be locked away."
"She burned them." Io allowed him to force her down into the chair, but when he reached for the fur, she shook her head. With the large fire, the room was warm.
"You do not sound surprised," Xavier said, coming down on his haunches. He reached out and used his thumb to pull her bottom lip from between her teeth. When she looked up, he was staring intently at her. "Io?"
"I…" What should she say? He'd not wanted to hear before any of his mother's misdeeds, and she didn't want to make things worse. He'd broken blood with his own family over the discourse. She'd never intended he choose her over them, and she did want reconciliation.
"Io, please tell me." His knuckles bumped against her chin, and she again brought her eyes to his. "I know before you left you were kept from looking at… the maps, and—"
"I was told the maps were too valuable to be handled." She tried again to look down. Anywhere but at his face would be good. The intensity of his stare sped up her heartbeat and dried her mouth. It wasn't something she'd be trying to think about when her fingers danced on her own flesh.
"Io, nothing in this house is forbidden to you. It is all yours to do with as you please." His hand dropped to her shoulder and squeezed.
"It was not Cliev," she started.
"What was not my scribe?"
"The records for the house are… not correct. There is a great amount of monies not recorded correctly." She watched Xavier pull back. His brow arched up then furled sharply downward. "Some of the ledgers show the… mistakes." She tried to choose her words carefully. Xavier was never made to question his people's' loyalty or honesty before, and how he might take the revelations she couldn't say. "When I asked Cliev about the discrepancies, he said I had to speak with Master Neville, but when I did…" She shook her head; the scene was nasty. "He took great offense and…" Again she shook her head. "Next time I went to the solar, I was told I was no longer permitted there."
Xavier took a deep breath and stood. Io watched as he scrubbed his hands over his face, then stabbed his fingers through his hair. He stepped back and Io held her breath as his
posture shifted to one she more often saw when anger was building. He took another step backwards before spinning around and crossing to the large table he worked at. He set his hands on the flat surface and bent over at the waist.
Her eyes went to his arse. Without the long tunic to cover, his shirt rode up so she could admire the fine tight curve. His thighs, with the defined muscles, stretched the material of the pants he wore so she could easily make out the cleft where leg met seat. How she did like to grab and hold on there when he was moving over her. It was a perfect place to clutch when skin became slick with sweat. His backside also fit perfectly in the curve of her back when they each lay facing away. She'd shape herself to fit against him, and knew he shielded her completely in that position.
"Io?"
She jerked her eyes up to see Xavier looking at her perplexed. She swallowed, hoping to also wash down the heat creeping up her neck to her face. When had she become so lewd? Not long ago she'd have found anyone ogling another person in such away to be disgusting. Thinking on it now though, the times she'd seen Xavier looking at her, she wasn't disgusted. In fact, it was more than a little empowering to know she could hold his attention with little more than the sway of her hips or a smile. Could it be it was the same for him? Were they equal in this power?
"Io?" he called again then chuckled.
"Sorry," she said, clearing her throat and shifting in the chair to face the fire.
"Do I need worry my debts have not been paid?" His lips twitched upward as he again moved towards her.
"I do not understand?" Why would he ask her? "Xavier I have not been able to settle accounts for you since…"
His brows furrowed, and his lips pressed in a hard line. He studied her a moment more. Two long strides and he squatted before her. "Well, when you are ready, that duty is yours as you want it. I should look into the matter." Taking her hands in his, he ended her attempt to smooth the edges of her nails. He rubbed her hands between his. "If only to learn if I need to make up taxes I owe to the crown."
Io started at that, but the momentary panic was dispelled when she saw him wink. Surely if he owed the crown, he'd have been notified directly by the king and long before the amount became criminal. "I do not recall seeing any miscalculated sums either for your taxes or your tithe. Only amounts from some of your… winnings." She had no better word for what he took in booty from those he defeated in battle. She knew he and his men stripped the dead and those who surrendered of their positions. All men in battle did this and often, once soldiers were gone, others came to scavenge from what was left until corpses lay naked on the field. It was the way of it, and Io didn't judge even if she preferred it not be.
He chuckled. "Then that means there are none or you would recall them."
"Perhaps," she hedged. She'd recall them if she saw them. Numbers were oddly very easy to remember now that he taught them to her.
"You remember everything, Io."
She shrugged. "Your mother and guests were not hiding their expenditures, but you said nothing." Io couldn't really think how it was right they made their purchases then told Xavier. To Io it was theft and deception. Those women had their own monies to use. Xavier's funds were for him and his people.
He lifted her hands to his lips. "They will spend no more, but perhaps you might take up their habit?" She narrowed her eyes at him and glared. He only laughed softly. "I can have this hope." Xavier said, stood and moved to stand directly in front of her. Before she could say more that might sound encouraging, he bent, lifted her from the chair, turned and sat down, setting her right in his lap. "Right now, it is late and I am tired." His arms tightened around her, forcing her to lean against him.
"Humm." Io sighed and set her head on his shoulder. "I am not tired," she said then wiggled her arse in his lap. Her reward came in the feel of his cock hardening under her.
"Io," he started, then stopped and groaned when she shifted again to give the growing member room to stretch.
"Not all of you is tired," she whispered, pressing her face into his neck and flicking her tongue over the warm skin.
"All of me is tired, but not all of me knows it," he said with a chuckle that digressed into a bit of a growl as she scraped her teeth along the thick column of his neck down to his shoulder.
"I will not tell if you do not."
She was nearly toppled from his lap he laughed so hard. "My lady, I do believe you have been corrupted. And I do believe I am most pleased."
She tried to smother the giggle. It was a heady feeling to hear him say again how she could please him so easily. "Perhaps we might both be pleased with—"
"I fear, my heart, it would be a poor showing on my part this night. You deserve much better. I do not know when I grew so old as to ache and hurt for time spent in the saddle. But I can tell you I do, and I can tell you more as much as the very idea of feeling our bodies together thrills me, I am more excited by the idea of a real bed."
"Oh." She pouted a bit. "Well, I suppose I must grant you this reprieve being I was the reason you were in the saddle so long. I would, though, have a few more moments of your time. We have not truly been alone for months and I…"
Xavier shifted and turned to look at her. "We have not, have we?" He looked to be considering something carefully. A moment more and he lifted his feet, then set them down hard as his body came out of the chair, carrying Io with it. "Perhaps a moment more of time is what we both need." He let Io's feet drop, making sure she was steady before stepping around and heading to the large window behind the table. She watched him lift a small pile of books from the sill. "These came while we were gone. I do not think I have read any of them." He selected one and came back to stand beside her. "Has it been awhile since I read to you, Io?"
She could barely nod in response. He'd not read to her since their earliest days together. When he was teaching her to read. Those were some of the best moments. When she would lie against his shoulder with her head on his chest, not only hearing but feeling the words vibrate around her. He often held the book with one hand, and with the other, play with her hair. In those times, she'd felt safe and at ease. He gave her a peace she'd not ever known until then. Oh, to know that again.
"Yes, it has been far too long." He took her hand and brought it to his lips. A shudder rolled through her body at the familiar touch. Something else too long missing from what she once found commonplace. "Come, I will read…" He turned the book to find the name burnt into the hard leather cover. "Dante, to you."
"I have never heard of it," Io said, letting him tug her towards the door.
He chuckled. "Nor have I, but I will assume it is good. It is from the royal library. The king must wish me to read it that we can discuss it at some time."
He pulled open the door and again the men in the hall stopped their games. Cuttler was the one to stand again. "My lord?" he asked even as he moved to open the door to the room Io was occupying. Xavier's response was to hold up the book. The man nodded, waited for them to pass into the room and closed the door without another utterance.
"Should they not be seeking their beds?" Io asked as Xavier dropped her hand, and taking a seat on her bed, began removing his boots.
"Io," he said, pausing in pulling one boot from his foot to look at her strangely. "They are on duty. Men do not sleep while on duty. Once they are relieved, they will rest. Come now, let us start this story."
Was he serious? Were none of those in the hall to sleep this night? She thought when he said the men would be guarding her it was for show. To make everyone think she was being fiercely protected. "They are not out there on duty to protect me, really. It is only to look as if—"
"No, Io. They are there to protect you as their only duty and—"
"Xavier, there are at least twelve men in that hall and—"
"Yes and six more at each end and—"
"Six?" She screeched before turning, intent on telling them all to seek their beds. Xavier caught her around the waist and pulled her
down on the bed before she got close.
"Six at each end and another twelve who are roaming about the house and grounds," he said as he pulled up a few of the covers around her.
It was a struggle, but she managed to sit up. "Xavier, you cannot keep so many men…" she stopped, she wasn't anyone to command him. "I do not want so many men—"
"Io," Xavier said, pulling her back to lean against his shoulder. "We spoke on this. You will be protected in this house until I have found and dealt with whoever is set to hurt you. Those men are duty bound to protect you, yet not one of them performs this duty solely for that purpose. I would not set men by force to protect you. That would not ensure you have the best protection."
"Xavier, so many?" She settled back against his body and let him tuck the furs around her.
"So many for now," he said, settling back and opening the book. "I know you cannot bear to be so surrounded. I will not force you to walk to the orchards with forty men, I promise. Only for now do I request you accept the full number in your guard. We have not been home a full day, and I do not know what situation we face. I know only I cannot risk harm coming to you." He pressed his lips against her temple. "Please concede, Io. For my sanity?"
She shrugged, she wouldn't say she was willing to submit in this. She'd wait and see if he was true and this was only a short term situation. She could always complain, she supposed, if it went on to long. And as long as he was telling her the truth, and these men were not being forced to this duty. She'd ask them on the morrow. For now, she took a deep breath and allowed Xavier's rich, warm voice to wash over her. Yes, his voice would be something she'd recall next time she partook in those little self-pleasures. If, of course, she couldn't find a moment to partake in them with Xavier.
Chapter 5
Xavier leaned down and breathed in deep. The soft scent of lavender filled his nose as the fine silky strands of Io's hair tickled his cheek.
