by Marie Hall
"Never tire of me, Xavier," she said, their lips brushing.
"Never tire of me, my heart," he begged before ending it all with a kiss.
Chapter 16
Io watched Xavier cross the room to her wardrobe and open it wide. That he wasn't yet dressed, himself, kept her distracted from the fact he went through her clothes. At least until he pulled out one of the new gowns recently finished for her.
"Xavier, what are you doing?" She watched him carry the dress back to his wardrobe and, pulling out his dark blue tunic, hold it next to the dress. "Xavier?"
"Is this the gown you were wearing last year?" he asked, still holding the items together for inspection.
"That gown is new. It is one from all those bolts of fabric you brought back from Curdale."
"It is?" He seemed to be looking closer at the dress now. She heard him grunt then saw him shrug. "Well, it is quite nice. I think you should wear this one."
"When? I think what I have on is fitting to get the head count from the shepherds," she told him, brushing at the dark green wool of the gown she already wore.
His laughter rang out, filling the room and creating a heat to settle in her stomach. "Not today. Next week, when we go to the festival." That heat became a block of ice almost instantly. "I think, too, you should ride the roan. I can have a proper caparison made for her. One from cloth, I think."
"Xavier," Io called, hoping he'd stop his ramblings.
"There is that new roan gelding in the stables. I will ride him."
"Xavier," she tried again.
"It did turn a little cool by feast time," he said, heading back toward her wardrobe. "Maybe something warmer."
"Xavier," she shouted before he could remove another gown.
"What?" He turned to look at her. "Did you already select something?" Again, he laughed. "Last year, you had it planned weeks ahead and—"
"Xavier," she kept her voice firm. She didn't want to recall last year. For all the planning, it'd been an utter failure. When he turned to look at her and his expression changed from excited and happy to concerned, she almost regretted speaking up.
"What is it? Are you not excited? I have waited a whole year now to have this again."
"Then you should go, but I-I was not planning to attend."
"What?" He crossed back to the bed where she sat. "No, we are going. I told you we would go, together, next time, this time. You agreed."
"I agreed because, at the time, I had a reason to want to attend. I still thought—"
"Thought what?" he asked, sitting next to her. "I did not ask last time, Io. What was the reason attending then was so important to you? You planned so hard for it."
"Yes, and all for not." She dropped her head and looked away when she heard his sharp intake of breath.
"It was my error, Io. I admit that, and I would you let me make it up to you this year. It was great fun, and you still have not ever attended such a thing. Why do you not want to go now, when last year you could hardly wait?"
"I told you, last year, I had a reason."
"A reason beyond you had not ever been?" She nodded. "What reason?" She remained silent. "Io, tell me what reason, other than it was to be a new experience for you? Last year, it was important, but attending this does not even cross your mind." His tone was taking on that annoyed edge.
"Last year…" she started and then stopped. This should be behind her; it shouldn't still hurt, but it did.
"Last year," he prompted.
"Last year… we had yet to do anything together publicly. No one even knew I was your wife. I wanted to attend the festival, with you, as a way to announce that to everyone. So they could see, I was your lady. I wanted them to know that. And I wanted them to know that it made no difference to how I would be toward them." The fact, last fall, her status was made known to the people only after she'd already fled was moot, and now because she and Xavier were often seen together, riding or handling matters in the shires meant she'd no one left to tell at all.
Xavier flopped to his back on the bed and looked up at the canopy for a time. "I suppose, too, that was why going with the Blake woman caused so much hurt?" He turned his head to look at her, and she nodded. "I wish you had told me this then, Io, when I said we would attend this year, together." He rolled to his side and propped himself up on his forearm. "When you agreed to go then, did you think a full year later your status as my wife would still be unknown?"
"To be honest, I did not think so far ahead. I was trying to convince myself I would have any status at all." It was at the festival Lady Charlotte started telling everyone Lady Sabrina would be Xavier's wife. It was then, things went from strained to dangerous for her.
"I wish I could say your doubts were unfounded," Xavier told her, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. At least, he no longer denied things. That alone had made things easier. They worked far better, together, now. And when they came to an impasse, they better negotiated around it. "But, Io." She looked up at him now and saw a bit of a smile working the corners of his mouth. "You still have never been, and I have never been with you."
She managed a smile of her own. "You did have fun last time."
"I enjoyed it. I would have liked it better had it been you and not… Let us go together this year and each year after. And this time, you can choose the most beautiful pig," he said and winked.
"Pig?" It took her a moment. "Oh, Xavier, that was in the fall."
"Was it? Well, we will go to that one, too, and you can pick the pig, because it was not easy," he said with some seriousness.
"Gerhardt still boasts of his win," she said with a giggle. It was a good way to settle the hostile feud between the two farmers. But she already heard several discussing the animals they were raising to match up the next time.
"Come with me to the festival this time, Io," he pleaded.
"In fine fashion?" She fingered the new dress he had with him. He'd several made for her that she'd no idea when or where she might wear them. They were less practical for a lady who was more involved in the work done on the lands.
"Only if you want," he said. "Everyone does know you are my lady and my wife and everyone knows, too, you are not afraid of work, you are not pretentious or demeaning toward them. I think if you arrived in nothing but a sack, they would not care as long as you were there with them."
"Think I should go in a sack, then?" She watched as he rolled to all fours and started toward her.
"It would be far easier to get you out of a sack," he growled as his fingers went to the stays holding the bodice of her gown closed.
"Perhaps I should go naked?" she suggested then squealed when he tugged her down on the bed and straddled her.
"What a vulgar suggestion, my lady," Xavier said, shifting around and tugging up her skirts. "I may have to give it better consideration before I speak to it."
The gasp that escaped her lips was followed by such laughter as to make her sides hurt, even in just the short time before Xavier's mouth on her sex changed the sound back to gasps.
As she lay there with her skirts shoved up and her knees over his shoulders, Xavier took his time. His tongue swirled slowly around and over before he added enough pressure to push through the protective petals and find that ever so sensitive spot. As soon as he found it, though, he latched on, and Io could hardly catch her breath as he sucked, licked and even bit at her. The pleasure built, as it often did when they spontaneously came together like now, hard and fast. Io threaded her fingers through his hair and urged him on until she could hold back no more. Xavier didn't even let the first wave roll through her before he was sliding inside and pushing her toward another climax.
The sound of flesh meeting flesh, the smell of his skin and her release and the feel of his strength as he used it to force her to that point again filled the air. She tried to clamp down on him, slow him, give her a chance to breathe, but all that did was increase the sensation she received as his shafted worked her. His every forward
thrust came with a grunt, and when he moved back, the moan reaching her ears sounded almost pained. Once more, the release came, leaving her gasping and weak but still wanting more.
When he lay his full weight upon her and slipped his arms under her hips so he could sink in even deeper, she was instantly back at the peak of it all. "Come with me, Io," he panted out next to her ear. "Come with me." His strokes became shorter, faster, and harder. "Come with me this time."
She squeezed down hard, trying to hold off until she felt him tense, but she couldn't and her release came first. His followed quickly enough and they both lay still, trying to catch their breaths and slow the pounding of their hearts. Xavier recovered first, but he often did as he only had to take that fall once each time. He moved to rest his weight on his arms and look down at her. With a smile and a wicked glint in his eye, he said, "I think we have need to practice your timing."
Again, she was left gasping this time because of laughter. Not even when he slipped back and having released a tit from its bindings began to suck on it, could she stop giggling.
"Maybe we should also practice the seriousness of what we do?" he said right before pressing his lips to the soft flesh and blowing, creating an awful noise.
Io dragged in several calming breaths before clearing her throat and addressing him, "I am sure I can practice these things alone that you can be dressed and out to attend what matters you have." He jerked back and scowled at her. "I think I can practice these things while I count the sheep today."
"I will give you something to count, scold," he growled, flipping her over and landing a loud but painless swat to her arse. "How about you count…" two of his finger rammed inside of her.
"Two," it came on a moan, and when he added a third, she couldn't be bothered as she was rocking back, taking in as much as she could.
"Hmm." He made the noise before turning his hand so his thumb could press against her clit. "Still wish to practice alone?"
"You know I prefer my lessons from a master teacher." She moaned again but knew as spent as she was, she wasn't going to find release again. Xavier knew it, too, and slowly withdrew then settled beside her.
"You are a goddess," he said, and she let those words carry her through the next few days as she rushed to make ready to attend that festival with Xavier by her side. Always, though, her best laid plans fell apart in devastating ways.
Chapter 17
Xavier topped the hill and reined up, causing the horse to rear a bit. Even in the fading light, he could see the battle was raging just outside the wall of his home. Over the wall, he could see the yards fully lit as, looking toward the house, it, too, had every torch, candle, and lamp casting light. Yelling and shouting ensued and was moving now into pushing and shoving. Given the combatants and their rank, Xavier needed to end this.
Pressing his heels, he charged the group, dismounting and pushing through to stand between Sir Roth and Sir Whitby. While both knights were in good standing, Whitby was the son and heir apparent of an earl, as well, as his coat of arms showed, a personal member of His Grace Lord Balbroke's guard. That very man was standing in the crowd, too, along with Minister Rigatos, a personal messenger for the king.
Even as he stepped in the fray, words were said, names called, and hands reached for necks. So far, though, no blade had come loose, and Xavier intended it'd stay that way.
"What is this?" he yelled, crowding Roth back and then snagging Luther by the collar to pull him away as well. "What is this now, that I am greeted with war at my gates?"
"It is no less than expected when your men are not but scurrilous, mangy, rabid dogs," Whitby snarled, but Xavier noted he didn't try to advance the fight.
"Without whom your father would not have lands still, you worthless sack of cold shit," Ansel yelled back as Xavier's men again tried to push forward.
"Lord Brice, I demand you control your men," Balbroke wheezed out as he tried twice to push his huge, bulking body off the side of the coach he was backed against.
"His men?" The defiant nature of Roth's tone said almost everything Xavier needed to know. Somehow, in all of this, Io was involved.
"Perhaps if I knew the matter," Xavier started, giving Roth one final shove backward and a look he knew the man wouldn't challenge. Roth's backing down, though reluctant, signaled the others to do so as well. And it was only as the peace settled beyond the gates could he now hear the frantic yelling behind them. "What happened?"
"They were told when they were given entrance not to speak to Lady Io about any matters without your presence. They could not keep their damn mouths shut and—"
"You will remember, you speak to a member of the realm and—"
"He speaks to me, Your Grace," Xavier said, forcing himself to remember, indeed a member of the royal court was standing there.
"He had no call to be rude and disrespectful," Minister Rigatos said, but as a long serving messenger for the crown who didn't always bring the best news to a man, he said it with much diplomacy.
"There has been nothing but rudeness and disrespect from the moment we arrived. Searching our coach and holding us out here in the dark and cold." On cue, like the well trained dog he was, Whitby handed Balbroke his cloak. Though it was far from cold, the lands these men spent most days in were warmer.
With a deep breath, Xavier turned to face the arrivals. "My lords, I beg pardon for the seemingly rude behavior of those who stand at the gates of my house. But we have, in the last year, experienced troubles which we keep mitigated through these measures. They are in place to ensure everyone's safety here. No one comes in or out without being verified, and no vehicle comes through without inspection. I am sorry for the inconvenience it has caused, but the security of my home and my people comes first. I will elaborate more if you wish, once we have time."
"Of course, we had not heard of any such disturbances, Lord Brice." Again, Rigatos spoke, trying to act as diplomat.
More shouting from behind the gates made the hairs on the back of Xavier's neck stand up. "But the coach has been searched and all your men identified; perhaps we might go inside and find some warmth and refreshments?" Xavier started to move toward the gates, only to have Roth and Luther step in front of him.
"Perhaps, my lord," Luther ground out. "You should first inquire how the hell they ended up back out here and then attend the more urgent matter before their comforts."
Whatever had happened, it was enough to set his men against everyone, and as the gates still needed to be opened, Xavier could only hope for an easy resolution.
"Are we to stand outside like beggars all night?" Balbroke complained when he saw no one moving to allow them entrance. The man liked his comforts and hated any delay getting them.
"You might," Ansel snarled at the man who again backed into the side of the coach.
"Robert," Xavier snapped, addressing the man by his given name but with no less force had it been his family name and they in battle. "I will not have this house dishonored. You will all remember you are knights and gentlemen, and you will recall those manners which separate you from those who are not." Sharp intakes of air sounded, but tensions eased a bit. "Now, what happened? Let us have this settled, for it grows dark."
"He." Roth stuck his finger in Balbroke's face. "He told Io he was here to escort her away."
Xavier heard the words but he waited, hoping he'd be told they weren't what was said, for the implications could be disastrous.
"We only said we'd come to escort her, by order of the king," Rigatos added, confirming it was as bad as it might get. "The lady did n—"
"For the love of God," Xavier yelled, doubling over and trying to get every dark thought about what had happened once Io heard those words out of his head. With a sound between a scream and a growl, Xavier stormed to the gates and pounded on them.
"She did not get out of the house. She made for the gates before they finished speaking, but she was stopped. She should be in the house," Luther said as the small portal was
pulled open and Xavier pushed inside.
"Should be?" Xavier questioned as he looked around at everyone searching work sheds and grain bins. The house was probably so lit up because they were searching for her there as well.
"We cannot find her. She could not get out the gates, and they would not hold their tongues. She made for the house, but—" Luther said.
"Did you check the tunnel?" Xavier said quietly as not everyone knew of it and certainly no one not from the house knew of it.
"She does not have a key," Roth started, and before Xavier could remind the man that didn't mean anything, he added, "But as soon as she ran, I sent a man around to wait at the end, in case."
Xavier managed to smile. Roth was the right man to replace Gunther as head of Io's guard. The man was very good at anticipating his lady's moves. "But you have not gone down into it to see if she is there?"
"No, would she go, even if she could not get through?"
"She might; she has hidden there before. I will look," Xavier said, heading for the back yards and the shed that concealed the tunnel running under the walls of the house. If they couldn't find her anywhere else, he'd likely find her there.
"I cannot find her," Ann wailed as she rushed toward them. "She is not in the house. What if she got out while you were fighting with them? What if she is gone again, what if we do not find her this time?"
"We are not giving up the search, Ann, be still," Roth said, though his gentle tone only seemed to incite the woman more.
"Be still? You odious mutton head," she screeched and took a swing at Roth. "If you would have grabbed her first and not gone after them," she spat the last word as she flung a hand out to point where the visitors now stood watching as people rushed around looking in crates and under wagons.
"Woman," Roth said again, his voice calm and low as he grabbed Ann around the waist and hauled her up flailing and held her until she stilled. "We have a new place to search, and if she is not there, I have riders waiting to go out. We will find her."
