by Marie Hall
"Why did you follow me?" Io's voice spun him around.
"What?" Xavier held her gaze as he stepped towards her.
"Why did you follow me?" she asked again.
"Io." Xavier sighed. How could she not know the answer?
"You never should have followed. Why do you follow? Why do you keep finding me?"
He stood staring down at her. What he said to her now could change their relationship. A long explanation about how they were wed, he was committed and that it was the will of the crown would perhaps set it in her mind. "Because I had to, Io. I had to." And when he took out everything that didn't matter, that was what was left. "I had to."
Io came to her feet in one smooth, graceful motion that left Xavier in awe of her beauty. "No, no you did not. No one would have blamed you. You could have told them anything." She stepped up to him. "You did not have to do anything more. All you had to do was—"
He grabbed her shoulders and shook. "No, Io. There is nothing for me to do but follow you. I can do nothing else. I had to. I. Had. To." He let go and took a step back. "There is nothing for me, without you, Io."
"Lady Sabina wi—" Io started.
"I do not want that woman," he yelled and saw her pull back. "I told you. I do not want her. I want you. You, Io. So I followed. I had to." He watched her bite down on her bottom lip before she turned away. Hope surged. He had her thinking now. He stepped close but didn't touch her. He leaned in, over her shoulder. "For you, Io. I had to."
* * *
Io stood on the steps and looked over the yards. Men and horse milled about with a slow sort of impatience. She'd go back with Xavier. She'd agreed to it. He at least admitted it wasn't a real choice, her return, but he'd said once they were home they'd discuss what choices she might have. Home and choices, two things Io was sure didn't really exist.
"Ah, my lady," Simon, one of the many soldiers who'd joined the search for her, said as he joined her on the steps. His arms were loaded with furs. Probably for the wagon Xavier secured for her to travel in. "Do not look so forlorn. Xavier will make the trip comfortable for you." He jostled the load of furs. "We all will." He started down the steps then stopped and looked back at her with a wide grin. "We are happy it will be you running the house. We certainly did not want Lady Charlotte or that Blake woman." With a shake of his head he walked away.
Io wrapped her arms around herself. She'd heard the same from so many and as much as she wanted to deny what they said, she found it harder and harder with every word of support. These men, and there had to be at least a hundred, dropped everything and left the comforts of the house to seek her out. They'd all volunteered, not one was ordered by Xavier and if they spoke true, there were many more who wanted to come but Xavier commanded to stay behind and hold the house for her return.
"If not for Xavier, then for everyone else, Io, come home," Lucas said that to her a few days ago. She'd not spoken to him until that moment. She thought he must hate her for the way she sent Sarah away. Xavier told her he understood she did it to keep Sarah safe. Now though he wanted to get back to his sister, who despite Io's best effort, was again in residence in Xavier's house.
She'd return to the house for the same reason Xavier gave her for coming after her. She had to. And she'd continue to tell herself she had to because to allow that she wanted to meant allowing hope to live again. It meant believing in the things Xavier offered. Believing in Xavier.
"Io?" Lady Roslyn joined her on the steps. "You are leaving today, are you ready?" The woman came up and set her hand on Io's arm. Io shrugged. "Your husband said he is leaving some of the men behind to finish the work he started."
"You must think him a good man. Everything he has done for you here," Io said as she sought Xavier out in the crowd.
The woman sighed heavily. "I think he is a man who is working to find answers. He is not familiar with uncertainty." Io couldn't help the snort that slipped out. To her surprise Roslyn laughed. "But you are familiar. Perhaps then you will be the one who saves him now."
"I am not capable of such things," Io said as she watched Xavier cross the yard towards her." He was a magnificent man. Strong, assured and in no need of saving, especially by someone like her.
"Lady Io, I think you are capable of much, you only need believe in yourself." She gave Io a gentle hug then turned and greeted Xavier with a smile and a short embrace. "You will be greatly missed, Lord Brice," she spoke with laughter in her voice. "Everything you have done here. We have not had a complete roof over our heads for years."
"Lady Roslyn," Xavier said to her while looking at Io. "There is nothing I can ever do to repay you your care or kindness. You have only a roof." His eyes flashed quickly to Roslyn then back to Io. "I again have my life."
Io felt the heat come up in her face. How could he say that? Why did he come for her? What did he want? Did he change his mind after he sent that message? Did something happen between he and Sabrina? Did she dare hope? Hope she might again be favored by him. She looked away, unable to hold his stare. She was a fool and it would be the death of her.
"Well, do be sure to take care," Roslyn said and again set a hand on Io's arm. "She still needs much rest, a little exercise and tenderness."
"And food," Meredith shouted from behind them. "You feed her, no more pecking at the plate like a little bird." Meredith took Io by the shoulders and drew her in to place a kiss on her forehead. "You do not eat, I will come after you."
Io rolled her eyes but gave the old woman a weak smile. "Yes, mistress."
"And you," Meredith said stepping up to Xavier, "you do not forget to care for yourself, that you can care well for her."
"Madame, I will do everything as you advised," Xavier said and then leaned over and gave the old woman a hug. He must have said something in her ear for when he pulled away, the woman set her hand on his cheek and with a soft smile said, "I believe you," to which Xavier set his expression to determined and nodded his head once affirmatively.
The two women stepped aside and Xavier held out his hand to her. Io hesitated, but then set her hand in his and allowed him to walk her down the steps to the small wagon. "I did not arrange anything in any way, Io, that you might make it as you like. You will not be forced or asked to ride but if you choose to," he looked around then back at her, "ask anyone, you can ride with anyone if you choose." He lifted her and set her on the wagon edge so she could scoot back or not as she wanted.
"Xavier?" Io called as he turned away. He turned back but didn't speak. "What does Mistress Meredith believe?" She saw his brow shoot upward. "When you spoke in her ear, she said she believed you?"
"Ah." Xavier tilted his head to the side and grinned at her more like a child might. "I told her I would take better care to do right by you." He lifted his hand and brushed his knuckles softly over her cheek. "And I will, Io, I will."
She watched him walk away and mount. And as he called for everyone to ready to ride, hope flared to life and sparked a warmth. Everything Io knew seemed to be made a lie with Xavier's words and deeds. With the way the people in this house responded to him, the way the men, men she knew supported her, acted to reunite them, he couldn't be so fine a pretender that he could fool all of them. Could it be that he did truly want her? Could he be set to do right by her? Hope wasn't just a spark; it was a flame growing to an inferno.
Io couldn't know, couldn't really trust, but she was now willing to hope. And she would hold onto that because she did know and trust that life without Xavier was death, and more than anything, Io wanted to live. Xavier was her life and she would live with him or die without him. Because she had to.
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, takes 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
Contemporary Titles
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