by Marie Hall
What’s Inside
"My poor heart," Xavier cooed, his hand brushing up her side, over her breast, then around to the neck of her shift. "I think you might be too tired for me to try to please you." His fingers worked their way over her shoulder, under the dress, causing the sleeve to slip down to her elbow. His lips found their way to her collarbone as he worked off the other side so the material fell low enough to expose her breasts. Tiny, soft kisses trailed up her neck, under her chin then along her jaw. The coarse, rough pad of his thumb brushed over her nipple which peaked and pulled in response.
He placed a soft kiss on her earlobe, his tongue skimming along the edge before gently biting down on the lobe. The pressure of his teeth increased until the sharpness could be felt along her neck, down across her chest, through her belly to where it pulsed between her legs. The moan couldn't be stopped and sounded loud to her ears. She tried to swallow it before it woke the children, but he'd taken hold of her breast and was kneading the flesh with his fingers.
The heat continued to build until pressing her thighs together no longer eased the ache and she needed to feel a touch. His touch, her own, she didn't care as long as she was touched and the building inferno was doused.
"My goddess," Xavier whispered in her ear. "You should not deny yourself this for so long. You are far too passionate to be left unfulfilled for days and days."
"Xavier," Io called and tried to turn against him. But he stood, and before she could protest, he'd laid her on the bed. He didn't leave her long in the wait, disrobing her and taking her nipple into his warm mouth. Io let the rush of pleasure reign. She reached up and wove her fingers through his hair, both holding him in place and urging him to do more. He complied without a word being spoken. Sucking on that bit of skin until she was teetering on the edge of pain, only to shove her so suddenly into pleasure when his fingers found her swollen, throbbing clit and clamped down on it, she was left gasping.
"There is nothing more beautiful to behold," Xavier was saying as Io felt the mattress sag and his weight cover her. She opened her legs to accommodate the heaviness. As soon as she felt the head of his cock, she arched up. Xavier's soft chuckle instantly frustrated her as she knew he wasn't done yet with these preliminary acts. "Such impatience," he chided, planting little kisses down her body as he slid back, lifted her knees over his shoulders, and used his arms to force her thighs wide. His rough stubble scratched as his head dipped between.
"You need to shave," she complained just to let him know he wasn't controlling this as much as he thought. His response was to squeeze her thighs hard, then cover her sex with his mouth. At that moment, Io did give up all control. Xavier's mastery of her body needed no input from her. He directed her with maddening ease right to that place she always craved to be whenever they shared their bodies.
Scold’s Passions
Worship Series Book Eight
Marie Hall
Published by Blushing Books
An Imprint of
ABCD Graphics and Design, Inc.
A Virginia Corporation
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA 22901
©2019
All rights reserved.
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The trademark Blushing Books is pending in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Marie Hall
Scold’s Passions
EBook ISBN: 978-1-64563-053-1
v1
Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
This book contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Marie Hall
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Chapter 1
"I am capable of getting my own water," Io Brice barely refrained from screaming as she snatched the bucket away from Liam. She'd had enough and everyone would know that today. She didn't want to be here on the road. She had never agreed to these measures. She'd trusted her husband when he said nothing but the location was changing for her.
"My lady." Liam reached for the bucket. "Your lord wants—"
"I am goddamn capable of getting my own fucking water." She moved to keep the bucket out of reach and saw the same frustration on Liam's face that she saw on Xavier's whenever she evaded him. But her ability to continue to move out of reach was quickly hampered when several of her guards closed in on her.
"You will watch your tongue, my lady," Roth warned in a harsh tone. "You know he will not tolerate such words. If he hears you—"
"He did," Samuel warned as he peeked back around the wagon.
Io heard the men around her groan, but at the moment, she didn't care. She'd tried for three days to adapt to Xavier's restrictive measures, with no other reason given other than it was what he wanted; this afternoon was the end of her cooperation. The small stream wasn't more than forty steps from the road and she wasn't being allowed to go to it without a full escort. And a full escort was now twenty, not six, men.
"My lady, give me the bucket. Maybe he will let this pass," Liam said again, reaching for the bucket even as he looked past Io.
She didn't need to look behind her to know Xavier was now in the group and she didn't care if he wanted to let anything pass or not. She was the one being wronged by his overbearing commands. Liam reached again for the bucket, and Io pulled it back then sent it flying. It landed on the other side of the road, away from the stream.
"Io," Roth hissed in warning.
"What is the matter here?" Xavier asked, his relaxed posture and easy tone not fooling Io in the least. She'd dared use God's name in vain, and while Xavier mostly ignored any curses she uttered, he wasn't forgiving when she committed blasphemy.
Io's guards seemed torn in how to act. They'd move in as if to protect her from a threat but then shift to give Xavier access. She knew were he to behave in an unreasonable or unexpected manner, they'd stand between them. But this time, anything Xavier might plan to do was fully expected by all and, given his few inflexible rules, Io was expecting something very direct.
When Xavier remained calm in his demeanor, a few more men pushed in around Io. Again, they wouldn't interfere in a domestic matter, but if Xavier's intentions were anything more than his exercise of a husband's rule over a wife, they'd stop him.
"There is no matter, my lord," Samuel chanced. "A misunderstanding about a simple chore."
"Is that all it is, my lady?" Xavier asked, his eyes going to where the bucket landed.
Io didn't care to answer. Not when any answer she gave would be wrong because, this time, she was wrong and she knew it. She took a moment to assess her chances of escape and then, stepping away from the protective detail, she headed toward the wagon. She had to pass Xavier to get there, but when he reached out, she was able to twist away.
"Io," he called as she tried not to look like she rushed to get inside, even though she did. "Io," he called again, but if he was any closer, it d
idn't sound like it. She managed to step up, and when she looked back, she saw he'd not chased her down only because Roth was holding on to his arm. What he was telling Xavier had many heads nodding in agreement, but she didn't stand to see the outcome.
Pushing aside the tangled linens, she plopped down on the platform that made up her bed. A rather lonely bed these last three nights. For all his bravado in the woods about not caring if anyone knew what they did when alone, he'd utterly abandoned her. She hadn't even been able to ride up front with him. In fact, she was kept deeper within her personal army. It was now those interlopers who rode foremost in the party. Even when they'd stop to rest or eat, Io was kept with her group and Xavier made no effort to join her, though Mark, Ian, and Jon did. When they'd stood together on the road just now, it was the closest she'd been to her husband in days.
Something dropped heavy in the bed of the wagon and Io looked up to see that bucket, filled with water, sitting there. A moment later, she watched as a foot stepped around from the side, off the wheel, the way all the men seemed to prefer getting in and out of the wagon. When the tarp was pulled back, Xavier was the one standing before her.
Her throat tightened and her skin prickled up. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her arse from clenching as he ducked down and moved closer. He was too tall to move with grace in the cramped space, but he moved with speed and it was enough to prevent Io from taking up a defensive position. Not that there was one she could take to stop him from whatever he planned to do. She barely bothered to lean away when he took a seat next to her on the platform.
"I got you the water you wanted," he said, shifting closer.
Io crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. "I do not want it," she snapped. His stiffening told her she should've thanked him and been done with it.
"Io," he started.
"I can get my own water. I am not incapable of doing things for myself."
"No one says you are," Xavier said then sighed and leaned back against the wall, too.
"Then tell them to let me do things."
"You can do as you need, take a man with you."
"It does not take two people to get a bucket of water from a stream only several steps away. I do not need a fucking escort to get my own water."
"Either take a man with you or send a man to get it," he said, his voice tight, telling her he was using restraint. But damn it, so was she.
"They are soldiers not servants and I will not use them as such." She turned her head to look away from him.
"Then you should have brought your own servants. You did not, so they will have to act in the place of one."
His words jerked her around to stare at him. "Do you mean to tell me it would be safe enough for Ann or Jude to fetch the water, but it is not safe for me? Or do you say they are little more than beasts to be sacrificed if danger comes?"
"That is not what I am saying at all, and you know it," he almost snarled.
"I know no such thing. If Ann could have fetched the water alone, then I should be allowed to," she said, her voice rising. "It is just for this way of thinking I did not want them to come with me. You would so willingly let them find harm in service to me. No, I will not have it. I can take care of myself." Turning, she took the few steps needed and kicked the bucket out of the wagon. "I can take care of myself." She turned back toward Xavier who pushed up off the bed. "I have done it far fucking longer and better than you ever have."
If she intended to be hurtful in her words, she couldn't have chosen better. Xavier jerked back as if she had slapped him. In the dim light, she saw him pale and then redden. He said nothing as he pushed past her and leapt from the wagon. She watched him pick up the bucket, turn and set it, empty, on the boards. "I do not need water, my lady," he said and caught her eye. "To use soap effectively on your mouth. You will do as I command and allow the men to serve you. And you will hold that scold's tongue in check, or I promise you will be most displeased with the outcome." He reached up and yanked down the flaps engulfing Io in darkness so she could only hear him step away. A moment more, she heard the call to start moving.
They were at an impasse. She was allowed to do nothing without several of the men doing it with her. She did her best to ignore them, and she did even better not only ignoring but annoying Xavier. Refusing to take her meals from the supplies, she began collecting edibles when they stopped or when she walked rather than rode. Xavier put a stop to that when it came time again for her to ride the roan mare. When she refused and started to walk, Xavier informed her she would either ride the roan or she would ride the wagon. And she'd ride no other horse until she'd ridden the mare in turn. For three days, she sat and fumed in the wagon. She knew the men were trying to reason with him on her behalf, but as her small collection of nuts and berries dwindled and her body began to ache from the confinement, she gave in, agreeing to ride the mare, muttering the entire time how she wondered if Xavier would care when the animal killed her.
She at least was left relatively alone to tend the horse before she saddled it. And as much as she would hope the animal showed its true nature before she got on, for the most part, it remained still and quiet. Very nearly done grooming the mare, Io took a moment to enjoy not having twelve men standing so close she could spit on them without effort. She'd nearly forgotten how solitude could be enjoyed. At the house, she'd places to go and simply close the door, be alone with her thoughts and if need be talk to herself to work out any problems she might have. The wagon didn't offer her the same relief as she didn't want to be there and Xavier too easily used it as a punishment.
Bending, she lifted the blanket and tossed it over the horse, growing weary again when the larger beast tossed its head and then shook all over. She stepped back and waited, but it settled and she made to reach for the saddle, only to have it snatched up and tossed on the horse by the one most likely responsible for her new situation.
"I thought you might never come out of that wagon again, my lady," the prince said with a smile that might be charming if she was a stupid woman or a whore, as they all assumed.
"Io." She watched him move to pull the reins down from where she'd hooked them on a branch.
"Seems you are no longer so pleased with Lord Brice, Lady Io," he said quietly as he stepped closer, and Io watched from the corner of her eye as her men also closed in.
"Io," she corrected more forcefully, almost out of habit, but as much as before she'd known Xavier. "Just Io, I do not care for the limitations of titles."
"The limitations?" the man scoffed but then, tilting his head to the side, considered her more. "Perhaps you are correct; some titles might have limitations."
"All titles have them," Io countered.
"Not mine." He laughed.
"Even yours." She snatched the reins from his fingers and moved to prepare to mount.
"Well, I have found none yet." He reached for the rope used to hold the animal during grooming.
"Really? Did your title break the limitation you have to gain access to another man's wife?" Io saw his grin slip. "Does your title enable you to force willingness beyond base duty from the men you now must beg protections from because your title, alone, cannot give it to you?" Now he glared at her. "I assure you limitations have presented; you simply cannot see them. You have restrictions placed upon you by that title you wear with so much pride as to be sinful. Perhaps someday, when you see them, you will also see what you thought was pleasure and happiness was but an illusion."
He did seem to be considering her words, though not for long. "Rather like the illusion you and Brice try to present about your happiness. At least such anywhere outside of the sheets."
"There is no illusion in our marriage. It is hardly perfect, but it is more than satisfactory. Beyond the sheets as well." Io stepped back as he pulled on the horse's head and she began to resist and swing her hindquarters about.
"So Lord Brice doesn't keep you hidden back here, surrounded in every way that you cannot so much
as take a piss on your own, not because he finds you a bitter disappointment? Not because he fears your incompetence will show? I would never have believed the king would burden his favorite knight with a woman who cannot be trusted with so much as the simplest of things. Though why he bothers now, I cannot think, for sure, once you are before the eyes of the king, it will all become rather obvious. Perhaps it was not a woman equal to the man his majesty wanted for Xavier. Perhaps it was only a distraction to keep him from learning he has become obsolete, useless."
Io pressed her lips together to keep from responding. It wasn't true. It wasn't. So then, why was doubt creeping back in? Of course, she was useful. She had accomplished any number of important things before they'd begun this journey. Xavier was satisfied with how she managed the house and shires. Wasn't he? He'd only forced her to delegate more so she'd have more time to deal with the more difficult tasks. Hadn't he?
"Well," His Highness went on, "it is of no concern of mine. If Xavier is happy with a wife such as you are." He tossed the rope at her as he walked away. She was watching him when the mare screamed out, reared up and swung around. Io was knocked hard to the ground. All she could think to do was cover her head with her arms as the hooves pranced over and around her.
"Io. Io," Liam called, dragging her to her feet, out of the way of the men trying to calm the horse whose eyes were rolled back white in its head. "Io, are you hurt?" Liam asked, trying to hold her away and look her over. "Are you hurt?"