Scold's Conquest (Worship Series Book 5)

by Marie Hall

  It took several long moments until the shaking in her limbs stopped and she could take a deeper more calming breath. She stood still for a while more, head hanging between her arms as she let the last waves of satisfaction drip from her body. She dropped her arms to her sides and set her foot back on the floor before turning to give her husband a sideways glance.

  "Gorgeous. Nothing in this world is as beautiful as what I just witnessed," Xavier said, leaning back and looking as satisfied as she felt.

  She nodded, not knowing what it might have looked like. But if it looked even a bit like it felt, she'd agree. A strong wind blew under the door then reminding Io she stood naked in the corner of a tavern and she'd been trying to bathe.

  "Better hurry, Io, your water will grow cold," Xavier said, then laughed as he pulled back to the other side of the canvas.

  Io bent and picked up both the rag and the brush, setting the latter aside for fear if she tried to use it now she'd be tempted to use it in a fashion it was not created for. She dipped the rag in the water and frowned. "Too late," she snipped.

  "Cefroul," Xavier yelled. "Give me the empty bucket, Io." He told her only pushing his arm through as heavy footfalls came their way. Io handed over two and Xavier pulled them through.

  "Yes, Lord Brice?" the owner of the tavern panted out as he came into the space.

  "Do not pay him again, my lord," Io warned as she went on washing with the cooler water.

  "Bring more hot water and be quick," Xavier said and Io hoped he wasn't also handing over more coins.

  "And man," Io called. Silence said they waited for her to go on. "Bring a blade, my husband has need to clean his own face." The whiskers were probably more the reason Xavier's expression had looked so demonic.

  "Yes, my lady," the man said and the sound of his retreat echoed about.

  "Io," Xavier said from his side. "You do not like my beard? You know it could be much like the brush if I—"

  "Shave, Xavier," Io commanded. "I have no need of bristles on your face when I have them at ready on any brush lying about." Let him sit on that. He'd corrupted what she already knew of bodily hedonism; she'd let him know the lessons took.

  His rich laughter rolled over her despite the thick barrier between them. "As you will, my heart," he said still laughing.

  More hot water arrived and Io finished her bath only delayed once when the temptation to rub and pinch her clit became too much. She didn't bring herself to completion but she kept the low hum in her body alive throughout so it was there when she finally pulled the clean shift over her head. She was working the stays when the trap was pushed aside and Xavier, his face bare of hair, stepped up behind her and set his lips in the crook of her neck.

  "Better?" he asked as his lips nibbled her skin.

  His smooth, warm skin settled on her shoulder and she lifted her hand to the back of his head to pull him closer. "Yes, so much." Turning in his arms, she lifted up on her toes to reach his lips with hers. She kept her hands on his cheeks and nipped his bottom lip.

  His groan almost undid her for a second time and she knew he was ready when he pulled her flush against his own body and his hard length pressed into her belly. She was quick to let the tip of her tongue brush over the spot she just bit. "Io," he warned.

  "So much better," Io breathed and shifted so she could lick upward from under his chin before claiming his mouth. She might have started as the one in control but once begun, Xavier's kiss consumed her. There was no gentleness at all in how he worked his mouth over hers. Nothing short of a war waged between their tongues, teeth and lips. Her hands wound into his hair while his clawed at her hips. He could push her against the wall and take her without care or mercy and she would scream his name and beg for more as he did.

  She bent to keep the connection as he slid down and hooked his hands under the edge of the shift, then she again stretched on her toes as he stood bringing the material up to her waist. His hands smoothed down her arse and pushed between her legs. She shifted her feet apart giving him full access to her cunny. His fingers slipped inside the already swollen and dripping place. Stroking her only along the outer edges kept her from hitting the peak but continued to cause her to slicken up.

  She wasn't aware at all one of his hands climbed back up along her arse until she felt his finger settle at the puckered ring. Still she was only vaguely aware of this until his digits penetrated both her openings at once. Io came instantly, arching back and crying out. The position she was in made it impossible to stay balanced and work to increase what she was experiencing, but there was little need.

  Xavier added a second and then a third finger to her cunt while he continued to stroke her arse hole. The strokes became nearly brutal in pace and strength but Io clamped down and refused to let him withdraw or stop. She reached bliss again and sunk her teeth into his upper arm trying not to scream.

  Her entire person shook and there was no time to catch her breath as he once again drove his fingers in and out and gave her that satisfaction she'd wanted so much for so long. She panted and clawed at him to stay upright, ready for him to fill her with his cock and indulge them both that final gratification. But as his touches eased and came to an end, as his fingers left her body and her shift swished around her ankles, she started to realize he'd no intention of completing this act. The knowledge didn't quite end the sensual rush coursing through her, but it defiantly slowed it a great deal.

  "Xavier?"

  "A little reward for the delightful showing you gave, Io," he said stepping back. "The better you become at this, the more reward you will find." He took a second step back.

  Io let her eyes drop to his groin. No doubt existed he was more than ready and capable of finishing this properly. Perhaps with a little encouragement she'd entice him to do that. She stepped forward and reached for him only to have her hands grabbed up and lifted to his lips.

  One look at his face, at the gleam in his eyes and the curve of his mouth, and she knew he knew she was his. That he controlled this and always would. He pressed his lips to her hand, then dragged his teeth along the knuckles, finally nipping her finger tips.

  "Xavier, please?"

  "Not yet, you still need practice. Find pleasure on your own, Io, and then we can find it together," he told her before letting her go and reaching for the knot in the rope he'd stretched the trap over.

  "I did," she whined and watched him disassemble her makeshift bathhouse. "Twice."

  He laughed but shook his head at her. "I had to help you."

  "Do you not want me to need you?" Now she was confused.

  "I want you to want me, Io. In what we do as man and woman, I want it to be want not need that brings us together." He set his palm against her check. "Sharing our bodies, finding those wonders. It is special and beautiful and it is precious and valuable. It adds a richness to our marriage too many do not enjoy. But it is not the measure by which I value you, nor do I want you to value me only for such things. I need you, Io, for more reasons and for more purposes than I can think to name. I want you for those same thing and for this." His hand dropped to the side of her breast and his thumb stretched to rub the nipple now straining against the fabric. "This incredible ability you have to make me feel more alive, more a man than any other can."

  "And my ability to do things on my own?" Damn the small space was becoming warm and though the desire that was raging was gone, in its place stood an unquelled ache.

  "When you no longer need me…" He frowned then seemed to be thinking of how to go on. "Maybe I should say when I am not the only way you can find satisfaction, then you can want me without worry. You are not judged by what you give in return. When we each find pleasure without wondering if we gave or received enough from the other, we can value the act just as an act and not a measure of our worth."

  Io couldn't say she completely understood, but his words made enough sense she nodded in agreement. She didn't want to only have value in his bed. In fact, she didn't want ther
e to be any real value for her there at all. She'd have taken it if it was all she was to have from him, but now she had the answer to the question she asked long ago. If they could never copulate again would he still find her useful, valuable? Without a doubt she believed the answer to be yes. And the faith she had in Xavier set more firmly with this knowledge.

  "Should we eat?" he asked, pulling her along behind him.

  Io let him lead her back to the plush furs laid out before the fire. He let go her hand only after she was sitting and moved to toss two fresh logs on the fire. "What might there be to eat?" she asked and rejoiced in the smile that bowed his mouth up.

  "I purchased a few chickens this morning. They should be ready and some of the men went hunting. They may have a deer or something." Xavier said striding past her towards the small kitchen area.

  "I will be glad when we are back at the house," Io said, working to keep the mood light.

  "You do not find the fare here to your liking?" Xavier asked, returning with a platter of boiled fowl and bread.

  "I find it expensive," she pouted as the plate was handed to her. "You did not pay that man again for the water did you?" When all he did was smile and wink before turning towards the door, she knew he had. "Xavier," she scolded.

  "Eat that for now, I will see what else might be had." He opened the door and a bitter cold blast of air swept through the room. "Stay by the fire, and try and rest. I will be back." He stepped out and pulled the door closed.

  Io lifted a bite of meat to her lips but stopped when she caught the keep looking at her a bit too much for comfort. "What?" she snapped.

  The man tipped his head to one side. "You must be someone of some importance if that man, a man who was here but eight years ago slaughtering half the people as they tried to rise up against the king, takes such care with you."

  "He cares for me only as much as any husband should care for his wife," Io said and felt a chill run along her spine.

  "No man cares for his wife as I have seen him caring for you." The man took a few steps closer. "Women, all you do is plague men. Bring us ruin and destruction. Lead us a merry chase right into the bowels of hell."

  Io set the plate aside and considered the man's words. It wasn't the first she'd heard such things spoken. But it was the first time she'd the chance to consider them from the stand point of a wife. Not only that she'd literally led Xavier on said merry chase but, well, with what they still faced when they returned, the bowels of hell might be more welcoming. For all this though, Xavier wanted her, needed her. Not just for what she gave him in bed, not because she was well bred and mannered. Truly not for any practical reason at all. He, like her, just couldn't live apart and find anything worth living for.

  "Perhaps then I have more value than most wives," Io said and tried to shake the unease creeping up on her.

  "Yes," the man said and took another step closer. "And I do wonder at just how much."

  "More, sir, than you will be able to pay even should we remain here the whole of the season. For it is nary impossible to spend from the grave," Io said and saw the man pale before he spun around and left the tavern.

  Io took a deep breath and blew it out. Good heaven, was this how it would be now? People wanting to harm her because she was valuable to Xavier? Could there be no middle ground between those who'd see her gone for being worthless and men like the keep? Maybe not, but this time she'd not go without a fight. This time they'd have to kill her for she'd not be driven off again. And as they came laughing through the door, Io was reminded she'd an entire army who'd fight with her. Led by a warrior who never lost a battle.

  Chapter Eighteen

  "The sleds are mounted," Ian said, taking a seat next to Xavier and taking up one of the remaining wooden staves. The last two dozen torches would be made with sulfur and lime so they couldn't be extinguished if rain and snow came again.

  "The men have stripped down?" Gerald asked, wrapping the strips of hemp cloth around the straw and completing one more.

  "Everything is packed either on the horses or in the wagon," Jon said, adding his torch to the pile beside the table.

  "And we have… volunteers who will bring up both the pack horses and the wagon," Mark chuckled. Xavier looked up and the man shook his head. "They ended up drawing straws. All of them want the privilege of seeing your lady retake her house."

  Xavier glanced over to where Io sat near the fire tearing the hemp cloth into strips for the torches. The idea of traveling through the night intrigued her and she was speaking with some of the men about the way it'd be done to ensure no man or horse was injured.

  Have mercy but she was a beautiful woman. Beautiful, intelligent and passionate. Just thinking about it caused him to shift in his chair. He had yet to decide if watching her bring on her own climax or hearing her try and set Cefroul in his place gave him more the thrill.

  Her entire demeanor was different. He'd always found her confidence as a brash, vulgar, unseemly scold, but looking back and comparing his wife to who she was then and who he saw her becoming now, he knew this time her confidence wasn't a bluff. Of course he'd be there for her. He'd be there committed fully, no half measures this time. And he knew he still had much to prove to her in way of his commitment. This time though she was willing to believe in him, and it was perhaps that belief which gave her the willingness and strength to fight with him for what they both wanted.

  "Xavier?"

  He turned and seeing his friends laughing realized they must have called him for a while. A flush crawled up his neck and he was glad for the dim lighting. He picked up another stave and set about wrapping another torch. Another round of laughter was given at the table before Ian took them back to a more serious state.

  "Everyone should know the formation. I told them to plan on only a short stop every six hours during daylight and every eight once the sun sets. Will she be able to handle that or should I put out we stop every four?"

  "No, the quicker we push through the better. I am hoping she will sleep through most of this push," Xavier said, again looking across the room towards his wife.

  "If we want to stay ahead of any runner carrying news of our return we would do best to stretch each run out as long as possible," Jon said, adding one more finished torch to the large pile.

  "Yes, but we will still need to break so we can rotate the led lines, especially if we hit deeper snow." Ian dropped another torch then brushed at the table top as all the staves were now taken. "If we again hit anything as deep and heavy as what we saw coming in here, we could need to stop more often."

  "If we do, we will keep it long enough men can rotate up. I will want the freshest of them up front when we ride through the gates and I want some ahead to hold the trumpeters." Xavier dropped his last torch to the pile. "And everyone knows to keep their eyes on whoever happens to be there?" He saw heads nodding.

  "I do not expect many," Gerald said. "If we have timed this well, it will be early morning enough that many will not have made it into the yards. We will be able to gauge them more close up as they become aware she is back in the house."

  "Remember no one is to act against anyone who does not directly threaten Io," Mark reminded them and Xavier was sure he'd remind the men several times before they reached home.

  The plan was carefully constructed, intended to lure Io's assassins into a sense of ease that they might again make a play and would be caught. Each man in this party had received careful instruction on how close to stay to Io given every possible situation. They knew what to look for and what to report. Xavier hoped with these men working with the knowledge there was an actual assassination attempt and not just a chance incident to cause harm, and with whatever Mistress Sarah and Seth discovered, anyone who was in any way involved with harming Io would be found out and then be hanged for the crime.

  Xavier needed to speak to Io of the plan though, as some deception on each of their parts would be necessary if they were to lure out the criminals. He was sure th
ough Io would grasp the plan seeing as she made a few rather good ones on her own in the past. It was probably a good time to inform her… he shook his head. No, not inform her, include her in what was planned. He would too, listen to any of her concerns and any ideas she might contribute. His wife was his partner in this. They'd do it together. It wasn't going to be him forcing his will any more. Especially in matters which so greatly concerned her life.

  He'd still put his foot down when any defiance put her in immediate jeopardy. But given how well she received the plan, even the part about what kind of security she must suffer with for a time, he didn't expect he'd be putting his foot or rather his hand down the very next morning. Still Io never failed to keep him off guard.

  ***

  Xavier ground his teeth and tried not to give in to the urge to strangle his wife. The sky outside began to lighten along the horizon. Xavier knew he needed to settle this matter if he was to avoid any more delay. He scrubbed his hands over his face and looked at Io again.

  "No," she said even before he got one word out. She made sure the word was understood by slamming both her fists into the pile of fur and cloaks.

  "Io, you must ride in the wagon." Xavier watched as her eyes narrowed. Perhaps if he tried to appeal to her affection for animals. "We will be moving fast without rest for what will amount to three days, Io. To place you on a horse, double the load it must carry will tire the animal needlessly."

  "Your armor weighs as much as I, and you ride all day wearing that," Io said, again slapping her hands down into the furs.

  Xavier rubbed his hand across his forehead and tried not to smile. The fact was his armor weighted a good deal more than his wife. "True, Io, but I do not ride the distance, or the duration we will be traveling. Nor do I want Cloud to work a lather in this cold. You do not want him to become ill?" Again he appealed to Io's soft heart. He saw her shake her head, knew he could leave her now and get started for home. "Io, tell me." He reached out and brushed the strand of hair from her face, encouraging her to look at him. "Do not keep things from me."