Scold's Conquest

by Marie Hall

  "Why can you not be honest with me?" she whispered.

  "Honest? What do you think I am not being honest about?"

  "About this." She waved her arms around perhaps indicating the interior of the wagon.

  "Io, I—"

  "You are shoving me in here because you are still angry. I know. You do not want to been seen with me on your lands because I—"

  "Io, I am not angry with you," Xavier almost shouted. The look on her face was all he needed to remember not to fall back into the habit of denying what she said. He took a breath and shifted to sit closer. "All right. What am I angry with you for? I can think of a few things but tell me why you think I am angry."

  "For all of it."

  "Io, I cannot respond to that answer. Please be specific." If this was to be his life with Io, he was going to need more instruction from Mark.

  "Everything, you are angry and ashamed and this is how you will punish me."

  "Everything?" He again rubbed his hand across his forehead. "Io, if I wanted to punish you, which I do not, I would not punish you for everything. So you must—"

  "For running, and for all this trouble, and the inconvenience. And everyone must know I did not think you capable of protecting me and if people think you cannot protect your wife and they start to think you cannot protect the crown and—"

  He heard Io's grunt as her chest hit his thigh. Taking her by the hips he pushed her forward then jerked the hem of her gown up. Io didn't struggle at all, making him believe more this was what needed to happen. He adjusted her again working her skirts high both on top and under so she was bare against his knee and then he reached his left hand around far enough the heel of his hand pressed on her clit while his fingers stretched down through the warm folds. A ragged moan came from her lips even as she tried to bury her face in the furs.

  Now to settle this matter. "You think I punish you Io? You think being placed in here is some punishment?" He set his right palm flush against the fullness of her arse and rubbed. "You think I am punishing you for…" He lifted his hand. "Running?" He brought his palm down smartly. Io gasped but because the slap rocked her forward, her clit rubbed hard against the heel of his hand and she moaned into the furs again. "Punishing you for running," he asked as he slapped her, again rocking her forward and letting her natural position bring her back. "Even though I have said it was the best choice for you to make." His hand connected again, slightly harder. "You think I want to punish you for this?" Again he connected and this time he added more bite to the swat. "And you think you created some kind of inconvenience?" He landed his hand with more force and she gasped, but the moan followed quicker with more strength than before. He wiggled his fingers and Io's reaction was instant. She moaned again and wetness coated his fingers and dripped back along his hand. "You think you need to be punished because we had to chase you down? Even though it was my actions which drove you off." He brought his hand down again in the same spot as the last. Color came up with the strength of the smack. He quickly followed the last with two more. Io clenched her thighs and Xavier gave her two more quick sharp spanks. She cried out and pushed her hips down to escape the pain. That only impaled her on his fingers and he pushed against her clit which drove her to lift her hips, arch her back and place her arse at just the right angle. His hand connected again. The result was the same; she was forced against the hand under her. Whimpers mixed with panting and moisture made the skin along her inner thighs glisten. "And as to anyone thinking me incapable of anything…" He gave her three sharp slaps that were meant to convey just a bit more than any of the last. "I am capable, but I know I failed. I failed you. And it is only what you think. What you believe that matters to me, Io." He began to slap his hand down in a steady rhythm. Not hard to cause hurt but hard enough she was humping his hand. She put up a momentary struggle as he brought up a deep shade of pink in her flesh. With a cry and a shudder, Io spent and went limp. "What you think I am angry about is what you feel guilty about. But you should not feel such when it was all that could be done to save your life."

  Io sniffed, turned to look back and him and made an attempt to reach back and rub her arse. Xavier caught her hand before she could. "You are angry," she said and bit her lip. "You cannot intend that all be so easily forgiven."

  He couldn't say if it was a question or a statement. He pulled his left hand from beneath her and transferred the one hand he held away, pinning it to her back. "There is something, Io." He shifted under her, bending his knee and raising her backside enough to make the beautiful globes, with the light pink tinge a perfect target.

  He turned his head and caught her gaze. It took a moment and he saw the moment she knew what he intended now. But she neither looked angry or afraid. She also didn't look defeated like the last time he actually punished her.

  "The one thing you did, or rather you did not do," he said, turning back to look at her arse as he set his hand on the fullest part. "The one thing I will not have you do again, ever." His hand rubbed down to mid-thigh then back up. "I will not stand for this, Io," he said and lifted his hand away. "You left the house without anything." He brought his hand down with a force that made her cry out sharply. "You took nothing." Again his hand cracked down. "No monies, no weapons." Again his hand connected with her flesh and she cried out. "You did not take so much as a bed roll for the love of heaven." He cracked his hand down once, twice, thrice. Io bucked and kicked but kept her cries muffled in the bedding. "You took nothing that would have ensured you remained alive once you fled to save your life."

  "I took what was mine," Io cried as his hand struck again. "I took what was mine, what has always been mine."

  "It is all yours," he growled out and added two more handprints to her seat. "If it is mine, Io, it is yours." He dropped his hand to target the tender underside of her arse. "You should have filled your little pack with gold and silver. You should have taken clothes and a blade." He brought his hand down lower nearer the top of her thighs. Alternating from side to side. "You planned it so well you should have added a damn wagon and beast to pull it. You should have taken everything you would have needed to settle comfortably when you reached your destination." He'd kept up a steady pace as he chastised her but it was hardly a match to any former punishment and while she whined and gasped, she didn't cry. "I should have it that you never feel the need to run again, Io, but if you do…" He made a point of making the last three blows punishing and Io cried out with each one. Her feet kicked and she struggled against his hold. "If you go, take every resource available to you." He let go of her wrist and rolled her to her back among the furs and cushions. "Take everything you can grab and carry, that you are well sustained until I can come for you." He leaned forward over her and took hold of her chin. "Because I will come for you, Io. I will come for you every time no matter what."

  He watched her blue eyes, shining with tears, search his face. "I—"

  "Say you understand me now, Io. That is the only correct thing you can say. Say you understand and that you will stop refusing what I have given you. You lay claim to everything now, Io, or I will make the rest of your jury home extremely unpleasant."

  He waited and damn if the corner of her mouth didn't twitch up in a smile. "I understand, my lord."

  "Of course you do," he said and leaned down to kiss her before moving to exit the wagon and get them on the road. When he turned back, Io was rubbing at her seat with both hands. He came back to her pulled both her hands from her bottom and brought them around to lift them to his lips. A brief kiss on the knuckles and he forced them against her cunny. "You have no time to rub your arse, Io," he said then chuckled when Io's eyes went wide. "You must practice." He forced her hands to rub at her sex and heard her moan. "Practice." He let go and slid back out of the wagon.

  She stared at him with her hands pressed between her legs. He reached up and drew down first one flap that would close her off from him until they reached home. "Practice, Io," he said as he reached for the second
flap.

  "Yes, my lord," she replied as he worked to tie the flaps so the wind and snow would stay out.

  He wasn't aware of the smile he wore until he turned to find several men glaring at him and the smile fell away.

  "I thought you said you were not going to—" Ian nearly snarled at him.

  "She is my wife," Xavier snapped. "I will attend her as I see fit." He dropped his head, making a show of pulling on his gloves to keep from laughing at their expressions. Murderous though they were, they brought him a peace he wasn't sure he'd ever know again. He was after all about to return Io to a house where someone there might want her dead. That she was going to be protected he knew, but this extra bit of discontent reassured him when he needed it most. He must have not gained control of his features well enough because when he looked back up the expressions on the faces surrounding him when from murderous to scandalized.

  "Son of a—" Jon grumbled before reining his horse around and kicking it into a canter. More grumbles and some shaking heads and the others departed leaving Mark holding Cloud so Xavier could mount.

  "Attend your wife? Is that what you will call it?" Mark asked as Xavier stepped up and set himself in the saddle.

  "That is what I will call it today," Xavier said, heading towards the front of the formation.

  "And I can be assured you attended her properly. As she needed, not as you needed?" Mark asked as they took those first steps closer to home.

  "I believe this time I gave her what she needed." He looked back over his shoulder. The line of men and horse between him and Io's wagon was nearly twelve deep on the narrow road, so it had yet to start rolling forward.

  "What?" Mark asked, leaning around to better see Xavier's face.

  "I do not know, for sure, why she would feel guilty over any of this."

  "Is that what you were doing? Assuaging her guilt?"

  "I do not know; again I do not see any reason she might feel—" Xavier was cut off by Marks burst of laughter.

  "Because she has a very soft heart. Because it is her nature to forgive but not much in her experience to know forgiveness or even righteousness. I should guess she feels guilty as much for the worry and fear she caused you, all of us, as she has for making our horses travel in this weather."

  Xavier chuckled at that. "She might feel worse about the horses."

  "I would wager on that," Mark said with a laugh.

  "It is no longer so simple to deal with her," Xavier voiced the concern.

  "It has never been simple to deal with her," Mark said seriously. "What was simple before, was the matters and her reaction to your dealings."

  "Perhaps," Xavier said, again looking back over his shoulder. The wagon was creeping along and the rows of soldiers and knights behind it were moving as well.

  "As long as you continue to acknowledge how she understands things, you should find you will have fewer matters to deal with."

  "Fewer matters concerning her directly." Xavier turned one more time. Everyone who followed was doing just that, following. The position of each man was specific. Not only to protect Io but to keep the men and animals from tiring. Everyone would need to be prepared for what waited at home. "Matters about her… Those we still must deal with forcefully."

  "Deadly force, I think," Mark added.

  Little else was said either that day or through the night as they traveled. Men, well trained were able to make each repositioning without error. The lead rows were moved to the back often enough no horse had to break through the drifts too long and each man had the chance to be blocked from the worst of the winds. As night fell, the torches were lit and carried with enough spacing everyone could safely navigate the roads while their passing through the shires wasn't announced. Men rode ahead to ensure none of the town criers send out an alarm and in the hours between midday and sunset, a few hours later than planned, the gates to Bainsport came into view.

  Again riders went forward to silence any warning cries and to order the gates fully opened. Xavier centered himself before the formation and with nothing more than a nod of his head, he brought Io through the gates. He brought her home.

  The End

  Marie Hall

  Marie Hall is a romantic with an imagination and she uses those skills to both entertain and inform. Because of her love for the written word, she spends her days (and a lot of nights too) creating characters in setting and situations the reader will hopefully love and believe in.

  Writing erotica, historical and contemporary, allows her to reach a broader audience. Focusing on the complex dynamics of a dominate/submissive relationship, with love and respect as a main theme.

  Marie uses her degree in history to add facts about the time periods she writes and blogs about those facts from time to time. When she is not writing or blogging she spends time with her family, her husband of more than twenty years and her adult daughter. Mostly, though, with her little four legged fur-child, Tuck. They spend time enjoying the contrasting landscape of Western Colorado. With his high reaching, jagged and rough peaks and its soft sloping valleys it is the perfect setting to sit back and think up stories to tell.

  Please take the time to enjoy a book. Books open doors in life, take you to places or times you may never have known and lift your spirit.

  Be Safe,

  And as always, READ ON!

  Find Marie on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynsityRomancewriting

  Or her blog: http://cynsitywriting.org

  Don't miss these exciting titles by Marie Hall and Blushing Books!

  Historical Titles:

  Warrior's Scold - Worship Series Book 1

  Royal Scold - Worship Series Book 2

  Scold's House - Worship Series Book 3

  Runaway Scold - Worship Series Book 4

  Scold's Conquest - Worship Series Book 5

  Contemporary Titles

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