by Marie Hall
"So you will be telling the king you are content with the denial?"
Xavier nodded, he'd actually planned to make it clear, without doubt, he wasn't only still most pleased with the woman he'd been given as wife, but he'd do much better for her.
"And you will be telling Io…" Richard finished his second cup and Xavier waited to see if the man would take more advantage of his quality stock.
"I do not know. She might have spoken to you with ease. But with me…" he finished, shaking his head.
Richard stood, setting the cup on the desk near the edge of the fine parchment of the king's letter. "Well you need to say something. Because I know at least six men who would be rather pleased to have a chance at her." He ducked back before Xavier's fist could connect and he went out the door laughing.
He did need to say something to her. If only to gauge if he needed to plan his own departure. Carefully collecting the pages of the letter and storing them safely, Xavier went in search of Io. He found her sitting in her garden just as the sun was setting.
"Io?" Xavier called, startling her enough she yelped and they both jumped. "I beg pardon, Io," he chuckled. "I did not mean to slip up on you so that you were startled. Might we speak?"
"We might try, but it has not been within our ability for some time." She didn't sound very willing but she shifted that he might sit next to her on the wall.
"I take it you have read your letter?" He gestured to the paper still sitting in her lap. Io folded over the page.
"There was not much to read. I must assume he gave you the same answer as he gave me."
"He will not move to have our union dissolved if that is what you mean. I, however, had far more to read and he was clear in his displeasure of my… behavior." Xavier kept his voice calm. He wasn't concerned any of this would impact his relationship with the crown. He could repair any damage with his reply. Io though stated several times she'd no intention to harm his reputation or status and he'd do what he needed to allay her fears.
Io turned to look at him. "I did not say anything uncomplimentary. I do not seek to ruin you. Only that you should be able to have a—"
"A lady for a wife," Xavier finished for her. "Io, you have not ruined me. If anyone is responsible for the chastisement I received, it is I. I do have a lady for a wife. You are lady enough. If I have not made that clear enough to you, let me do so now. You are my lady, Io."
"Your mother does not—" Io started.
"I told you my mother does not decide for me." Xavier stood and stepped in front of her. "Io, I tried to tell you. I do not deal well with my mother. It is a fault I have always had and have never tried to correct. Before it has never mattered. This time it did. This time I should have acted differently."
"How you act has no bearing on the fact I am no lady. You need only to set me beside Sabrina to see what I lack and I am weary of trying and failing." Io lifted her hand and brushed at the tears. He didn't know why she cried and while he hoped it wasn't in disappointment of the ruling, he didn't like it could be because he left her feeling she failed somehow.
"Io, I need only set you beside the Blake woman to see every unique, special thing you are. I should know how you define a lady that you think you do not fit the meaning of the word." He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her eyes to his. "I am satisfied with you as my wife, Io. I need no other."
Io pulled her chin away and again dropped her head. "Fine enough for you to say when you have no other option. It is as it has always been. I have been forced on you by a king who seems to have no understanding or care for your happiness or needs. You are bound to me only through the will of another and your honor which doesn't allow that you might dissent."
Xavier drew in a long deep breath. He'd a strong urge to shake her. He let out the breath in a heavy impatient sigh. This shouldn't surprise him. Everything they'd built had crumbled. That it crumbled so easily told him he'd not built it strong enough. He would with this next try. "Io, I cannot live every day trying to convince you what you do not want to believe. So I am going to say one more time as plainly as I might and I will you to listen, hear me. It is neither the will of another nor my honor which binds us, Io. It never has been those things. You are not with me by force, at least not on my part. I am very pleased with our union. I am happy every day you are my wife. I do not want another. You are now to me what you have been from the day we met—"
"A vulgar, brash and unseemly scold?" Io said dryly looking up at him.
He laughed. How could he not? "Without a doubt you are that, Io. Without a doubt." He sobered then and stepped so close he could feel the heat of her body, smell the soap she used. He set his hands on either side of her face and gently tipped her head back so he could step closer and look down on her. She'd no choice but to look up at him. "But do you know what else you are to me, Io? I know you know." He waited and he saw it in her eyes when she opened to the possibility they could, would, fix this. "You know do you not, Io?"
Io nodded but didn't speak. He lowered his head, turning just enough he might bring their lips together.
"You are my goddess, Io." Whatever more argument Io might have made was lost in the heat of that kiss and Xavier vowed, if only to himself, to keep this fire burning until she'd no other argument. Until the doubt he saw was nothing but ash. He'd use the fire to forge new bonds between them no one could break.
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
Available soon:
Runaway Scold - Worship Series Book 4
Contemporary Titles
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