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OH, how Isabel had underestiown off in record ti her senseless the entire way
"You&039;re good," she said, as her gown dropped to the floor
"I very much hope, lady, that you feel the saown billowed around her ankles, she was naked, and suddenly felt shy She covered her breasts with her arms
"Oh, Isabel, please, no You are so beautiful"
Isabel had no idea how the workings of men&039;s tunics, breeches or other stuff worked She was only able to shed hi at a total loss "I&039;m afraid I don&039;t knohat to do"
Arthur, who&039;d been fixated on her body, went still and drilled her with his gaze "Are you tellingidea how to respond She was at a total loss for words
Viviane?
No answer And it suddenly occurred to her that Viviane had proreat
"Does it matter?" she asked "I just have no idea how to deal with "
"It ry
He pulled her gown back up over her body His heaving breaths no longer sounding full of lust and longing They sounded full of an attempt to resume control of his body
"Please tellthe unlaced gown around her "What did I do?"
He picked up his vest, the only gared to strip fro that is the province of your future lifehis vest back on with every sto step
"You wait just one minute, buster! Get your ass back here and talk to me"
He turned back, just as he was about to switch the latch on the door "What more can I say? I am not upset with you, ize for what I was about to do"
"If you hadn&039;t noticed, I was a very willing participant"
"Which was heady indeed Truth be told, it overruled all else"
"Then why are you taking it out on me? And why aht believe you&039;re punishing yourself, but you are punishing me more Why?"
He deflated just a bit, which hurt Isabel&039;s heart Abandoning the door, he approached her "Let me help you with the laces"
"Fine, while you do, why not help me to understand what just happened here"
"&039;Tis not a nice story," he said, as he began lacing her like a pro
"As if we all don&039;t have many of those Spill, Arthur, please"
"&039;Twas a time I was a bit too full of bluster Too filled with my newfound power and fame I was but a lad but wanted quite desperately to be a et that But what does this have to do with us? With this?" she asked "I believe the truth is in order"
He sighed "Yes, you deserve the truth"
And a freaking good orgasm But for now she&039;d settle for the truth "Yes," she said, trying desperately not to start crying
He nodded "Then the truth you shall have" He gently pulled her hands fro to do
"Tell ht after successfully freeing Excalibur"
He nodded yet again "Soon after Ilady enamored withbold and powerful, and felt the world wasno one else could"
He finished lacing her up, then turned and sat back in one chair Isabel again sat in the other "Go on," she said
"This sweet young girl allowed me tomake love with her &039;Twas a hurtful experience for her, as I was very s &039;Twas my first time as well"
"You kne to take swords out, but not quite how to put theize That joke was in very bad taste"
He cocked his head "Unfortunately, all too true I had terrible nighty I, after all, had more important hthed onBut I was told she passed in childbirth"
"Holy shit! Here comes Mordred"
"I had nary a clue that the child was mine I swear this to be true Her sister took over care of the child and led Mordred to believe she was his true h I attempted to make peace with her But she would have none of it I counted and knew he had to be mine &039;Tisted, &039;twas a horrid tiht, Isabel I truly did"
"I believe you, Arthur"
"The reasoning for this story is to tell you how ain And you, Isabel, I fear hurting in when you married her"
"That is true, but I was very careful, knowing this I was very careful to make certain no harm would come to her"
"Then why did you freak out with me?"
"Freak out?"
"Why did you stop?"
He shook his head "Do you not understand? My body was out of control I wanted to take you I wanted to ravish you"
"So? I wanted to be ravished"
Arthur stared at her "I ht have hurt you I had already done that to another I could not live with that"
"Did I appear frightened?"
"No, Isabel, but &039;tis because you have no knowledge of the pain a woman endures the first time"
Like hell she didn&039;t Brian Gordon had been just as clumsy and clueless as Arthur And, hell yes, it had hurt like hell But she got over it Rather quickly, actually
"You could have been just as gentle with me as with Gwen"
"I could not"
"Why not?"
"Because with Gwen I was in full control of my faculties I had learned from that first experience with Elizabeth And Gas ile artistry &039;Twas easy to treat her as such"
"I know I&039;h the jury&039;s still out on how offended I am But just what is so very different here?"
"I have told you, Isabel, with you I was not in control &039;Tis a fact that I have ne&039;er wanted a wohts, &039;twas not as this"
Isabel wanted to screa no sense and at the saentlebody was siood to hear that he had wanted her that badly Why hadn&039;t she just said that of course she wasn&039;t a virgin? That she had had several lovers over the years? Good lord, at her age you&039;d think her vagina had closed over permanently if it had never been penetrated
The one, however, and her hesitation had cost her Big time To blurt out now that in truth she was very faenuous And would probably anger hiin with
She stood up, feeling a kind of defeat like no other "I thank you for your honesty, Arthur I wish only that I had done the sa?"
She couldn&039;t seem to meet his eyes "It doesn&039;t matter now"
He reached out and took her chin, forcing her to reat deal In the end, Isabel, truth is all we have"
Oh, jeez, could she feel any worse? Her entire life in this land was a lie
"May we discuss this at another tiht now I am spent, and may I say, not in the way I had hoped But I have et to it"
He stared at her for what seeave a short, curt nod "Another tihand bow skills as yet today, and , perhaps?"
Her laughter shook It would take at least a year or ain a pound or lose an ounce of muscle His body was finely toned from shoulders to toenails At least it felt that way How she wished she could have explored for herself "Perhaps We&039;ll see"
"I will see you at the evening repast, then?"
"You will I never miss a meal if I can help it"
He chuckled And then before she knew it, he cupped her head and ravished her o back into dor back to life as if zapped with electricity
Arthur kissed like no otherhers to their bidding His tongue made only an occasional appearance, to taste her ue He didn&039;t try to shove it down her throat as too manyand teasing and basically driving her crazy
Long ainst hers "Oh, Isabel Your taste and your scent and your feel are alht back atcha," she said
"Until this evening?"
"Yes"
He stood back, albeit appearing totally reluctant to do so His eyes swept over her, from face to feet "Trust me, Isabel, you have no need of shyness You are so beautiful"
He went to move past her, but she touched his arm and he turned back "Yes?"
"So are you"
He grinned "You are presu You may take back those words some day I have h the thought of hi hurt nearly made her shudder, she understood this was the way of this world And then she thought of Curtis and Afghanistan, and realized brutality hadn&039;t changed, only the nature of it Still, she couldn&039;t wait to explore every single one of those scars If she ever got the chance
She walked with hiain "Arthur? The next time we have the chance to speak, I proht In the end it is all we have"
He smiled "I look forward to it You have an endlessly fascinating life, Isabel"
If he only knew
"Until this evening, then," he said with a slight bow
"Yes Be careful out there Sword play isn&039;t for sissies"
He laughed "I know naught what a sissy is, but I can well i the latch and opened the door
Their smiles fizzled instantly
"Mordred," Arthur said
The s little bastard shoved off from the wall across from Isabel&039;s door "Father Countess I feared that you would not ee the entire day"
ARTHUR knew that Isabel&039;s first desire was to lunge at his son and claw his eyes out So he quickly blocked her path to thwart disaster "Did you have issues to discuss, Mordred?" he asked "You had but to knock"
"Oh, issues aplenty," he said "And another to add to my list"
"Then let us do so, at so, ani to break through Arthur&039;s barrier With no luck, thank the gods
"Please, Isabel," Arthur said, "allow me to handle this situation"
Her breaths were co fast "How do you think he knehere you were if he didn&039;t follow you?"