Arthen closed his eyes tiredly. Rowena had not even inquired after their son, who had been crying himself to sleep in those first days of his mother’s absence. He did not understand how a mother could be so callous and not even ask after her own child, but it was so. Like so many times before, he wondered whether it would not be better to leave Rowena to her own fate, since it was plain she did not want to be his wife and a mother to their son. Yet he reasoned she would meet peril wherever she went and that it was best to try to shield her from her own recklessness, even if it would be at a cost to himself.
He stared at her in spite of himself, hating the stir of sheer lust he felt whenever he glanced upon her form. Lust for her he still may do, yet he could no longer love her, having come to understand she could never love him and perhaps anyone in this world. Perchance Rowena loved only herself. He undressed to his undertunic, going to lie next to his sleeping wife on the pallet and trying to conjure sleep to come to him. Yet he could not sleep. Instead he thought of Rowena and of how he had been in love with her at the time they were courting. And of how that fancy had disappeared after they’d wed, when he’d come to see how she truly was. He was now doomed and bound by duty to spend his life with a woman he no longer loved and who would never love him or their son.
He recalled the bitter argument they’d had before Rowena had run off stealthily in the night, taking away all the coin she could find, with no thought to her own child. And he recalled those frantic months when he’d searched for her, coming to track her down in London, where, at the inn where she’d resided, she’d lain with the innkeeper’s husband and then robbed himof his coin. Arthen had skimped and saved in order to pay back what his wife had stolen, resolving she might be forever lost to him, but that he would do all in his power not to let any harm come to her because of her ill deeds. A week ago, when word had reached him she’d been seen in London, he had been nearly determined not to set eyes on her ever again and leave her to the fate she deserved. Yet he’d promised Hild he would fetch her daughter and bring her home and shield her from a gruesome punishment. And this was what he was doing now.
Bitterly sighing, he conjured up the spanking he’d had to deliver in order to prevent the innkeeper from calling the guards upon his woman. And he fiercely blushed to recall how his cock had wished to stir when he was delivering the punishment. He’d only spanked Rowena once before, and that had been on her taunt and had soon turned into love play. He recalled their lovemaking that time, which had been, as always, fulfilling and hot for both of them. And he conjured up today’s spanking, coming to see he’d been far more aroused by the harsh spanking he’d delivered now than by the teasing one he’d bestowed on his wife in the past. And it seemed to him his passion burnt even hotter for Rowena ever since he’d set eyes upon her anew.
Arthen had always felt lust for his wife. But the lust he was feeling now far surpassed what he’d experienced before. It seemed to him that today Rowena was more alluring than ever and somehow different. The look in her eyes seemed different. And the way she held herself seemed different. And her speech seemed certainly different, but that was because Rowena had gotten it into her head to speak English like a noble lady some time ago and had been also trying to teach herself flawless Norman. He heaved an even deeper sigh, hating Rowena’s dreams of greatness. He knew now, she’d married him only because he was above her in station and had thought he would earn the favour of a noble lord and with it a high position. ButArthen did not share her ambitions or her love of noble lords. He was content to be what he was – an archer. It was the only thing he loved to do in this world.
He was, after all, tired from today’s exertions, and he at last started to drift into a sleep maybe two hours before dawn. But just as sleep was starting to claim him, he felt the woman beside him stir and then spring fully awake. By her brisk, hurried movements, he understood she was looking for a way of escape and not for the chamber pot which lay by the pallet. Cursing under his breath, he lunged for her, just as she was preparing to bolt.
Soon, he pinned her down on the pallet, relieved he was unable to see her treacherous face in the dark. The anger towards her returned in blazes and he contemplated turning her over his knee right here and now to give her a hard spanking with his belt that would make her think twice about behaving so recklessly again. Yet the very thought of a new spanking made his cock stand to attention and he cursed viciously, disgusted with himself.
Emma hatedherself for loving the way the man’s hard body felt as it was pressed against her, pinning her against the pallet. She hated herself for the languorous heat which took hold of her as he firmly held her hands locked above her head and as his raspy breath tickled her flushed cheek.
“Still treacherous, I see,” he whispered against her skin, sending dangerous tingles which made her toes curl and her quim stir in rapture.
Why was it that this man, who’d switched her bottom so mercilessly, conjured up such strange sensations within her?
“Let me go! You won’t ever hear from me, I promise. I will be gone and we need not ever set eyes on each other again!” she pleaded.
He laughed harshly in the dark, releasing her hands and rolling away from her.
“I cannot and you know it well. It’s just as the innkeeper said. You are my cross to bear. And I’ll have you returned home, where you belong.”
“But I do not belong there! Can’t you see it? Can’t you listen to me speak? Do I sound like Rowena to you?” she entreated him, understanding she would need to be forthright with this man, who was not to blame for Rowena’s deceit and who simply wanted his wife back.
She heard him sigh deeply, “You always tried to be other than you are, Rowena. And we both know well you taught yourself to speak like a fancy, noble lady. But you are only deceiving yourself. You’re still Rowena Archer, a yeoman’s wife. It might not be a good enough life for you, but it’s one where you’ll be safe. I promised your mother to keep you safe from peril. And this is what I’m doing. Protecting you!”
“Oh, so when you were blistering my behind with a nettle switch, that was what you were doing? Protecting me?” Emma could not help saying, because as she sat up, her bottom still burned fiercely from his harsh spanking.
“Aye! Protecting you from far worse from the guards and from the others! And teaching you a good lesson about endangering your own life. One that I’ll not tarry to teach again, if it means to save you from your own recklessness,” he said pointedly.
Emma smiled bitterly to herself.
“So like a man. Feeling entitled to always lord over a woman and correct her for her transgressions. I wonder, who’s going to discipline you when you err, my lord husband?”
Belatedly, she understood she’d called himhusbandand that she’d spoken to him as if he was her equal in station, although he was only a yeoman, while she was a high-born lady. And with a fierce blush of her cheeks, she felt a stab of deep, shameful pleasure thinking of how it would feel to have this yeoman’s rough hands caress her naked body. What a wicked woman she was! She patted her disarrayed hair, deciding to blame it all on this man who was now threatening to spank her again.
“Don’t mock me!” he rebuked her, and by the rustling sounds he was making, she understood he was searching for something in the sling bag which he’d placed by the pallet when they’d come to sleep here.
Half fearing he was searching for a new implement with which to punish her, Emma almost shuddered when he returned by her side, now taking hold of her arm. The thought of a new spanking made her cheeks blush, not only because she feared new pain on an already tender bottom, but because she dreaded the shameful sensation she recalled the spanking had kindled inside her treacherous quim.
“Please, don’t spank me,” she whispered pathetically, and she heard him laugh softly.
“Aha. So the spanking served a purpose, after all,” he muttered after what seemed like a long while.
“Oh, you are vile!” she tossed at him, in sheer childish spite, then regretted her rash words.
Now she was giving him further cause to spank her. Emma cursed herself, and began to wonder frantically how she would ever be able to get out of this predicament. She’d thought she’d start a new life. She’d planned on becoming an embroiderer and on setting her business in a town where no one might recognize her, making her own living. But she’d not known there was yet another man in this world who thought himself entitled to lord over her. And she understood Master Archer was a man whowould not be so easy to dismiss. He was stubborn. And he was set on not believing a word of what she had to say.
“Vile I may be,” Master Archer countered, “yet you are still bound to me, whether you wish it or not.”
As he said so, Emma came to understand that the item he’d been searching for had been a piece of rope. Now Master Archer was binding one of her wrists to his own hand, in a strong, tight knot. She breathed a small sigh of relief, resolving he would not be able spank her if their hands were bound together. Soon her relief was replaced by sheer alarm. The knot was strong and it would take much work to undo in the dark. She would not be able to get away from him now, and it was just what he wanted.
“There, wife,” Master Archer said. “I will not have you run away again. We’re going home and that’s the end of it. At home, you will be safe, and from now on I’ll have no more recklessness from you.”
Emma gritted her teeth, biting back the angry words which sprang on her lips. She felt certain he still meant to punish his wife for her transgressions. And while she agreed that what Rowena had done deserved a punishment, it stung to think of husbands entitled to do whatever they pleased with the women they lorded over. Emma promised herself she would find a way to escape this man who wanted to rule over her life. She knew herself to be patient and restrained, so she would use her attributes and bide her time in order to make her escape. She resolved to let the master archer believe she was subdued and compliant. She would wait for the right moment when he was unsuspecting. And then she would make her escape and never look back upon him.