WARNING: The sex content in this chapter is the high-end of T. Not ridiculous or anything, but if you really hate that stuff/are made uncomfortable by it, maybe this isn't your story.....

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Two days later Jai's maid showed up early in the morning at Raoul's door. Dropping a curtsey and looking as disdainful as she had upon their first meeting, she gave him a note and left.

Raoul—

I am going out for a ride on my fat pony. Do you know the small pond in the forest just south of the wolves' cave? I'll arrive there at the lunch bell. I hope you can join me.

Love,

J

P.S. Don't mind Nana if she appears angry. I had to push pretty hard to get her to deliver it.

After breakfast, Raoul jousted with Kel for awhile, sending the girl flying only twice. Raoul cursed when heard the lunch bell, realizing he had lost track of time. Sending Kel to bathe and eat lunch, Raoul rode Drum off into the forest without bothering to change, worried that he would miss Jai otherwise. When he arrived at the pool, he dismounted and smiled at the picture Jai made. She was wearing a forest green riding jacket with a matching skirt. Her shoes and stockings sat next to her, and her feet were dangling in the water. Her hair flowed freely down her back, a three-cornered hat the same color as her outfit was perched on her head. Hearing him walk towards her, Jai turned and smiled at him patting the stone beside her.

"What have you been up to?" she asked looking him over.

"Jousting with Kel. It took longer then I expected," Raoul responded reaching out to flick the jaunty feather in her hat.

"Do you like my hat?" she asked.

"I do actually. The feather is a nice touch."

Jai giggled, then leaned forward to put her hand on Raoul's chest and kissed him.

Responding readily, Raoul moved a hand to Jai's back, only to hear her hiss in pain.

"Jai, what?" Raoul's eyes clouded over as he realized what had happened. "How bad?" he asked softly.

Jai shrugged, refusing to look him in the eye. "I've had worse."

Raoul slid closer to her and began unbuttoning her jacket slowly, his eyes looking for any suggestion that she wanted him to stop. Even when it became obvious she was wearing nothing under the jacket, he didn't pause. He eased the jacket gently off her, then slid behind her and hissed at what he saw. At least twenty angry red welts criss-crossed the girl's back, all falling below her the points of her shoulder blades so no dress would show them, and a few disappeared into the line of her skirt.

"How bad does it hurt?" he asked softly, tracing his fingers around the lash marks.

"Like I said—I've had worse. Admittedly, not much worth. My father's wife is always careful not to break the skin. Vinson doesn't want his future bride scarred after all. Nana put an aloe on it. That helped a lot."

Raoul kissed the skin between the welts, careful not to touch any of the sores. He reached his hands forward to caress her stomach, reaching up to circle the sides of her breasts. "You know what else would help?" he murmured between kisses. "A nice cool swim in the pool."

Jai folded into him, heat running through her as he touched her all-over without shame. "This feels nice."

"Come on," Raoul whispered, unknotting the tie on the side of her skirt. "The water will feel even better."

"It'll be cold," Jai protested, her eyes closed.

"Don't be a baby. Besides, I could use a swim myself, and I promise the cold will feel wonderful on your back."

When she didn't protest anymore, Raoul lifted her up and slid her skirt down, revealing why she hadn't wanted him to take her skirt of. The welts continued down across her butt and thighs, ensuring sitting would be supremely uncomfortable. The blood pumped through Raoul's veins and fury almost overtook him. Jai turned to face him and kissed him softly. "Don't," she said. "It is what it is. You getting angry will only ruin the time we have together."

Reaching a hand to the back of his head, Jai kissed him passionately on the lips, pressing herself against his chest. When she pulled away, Raoul grinned wickedly down at her.

"You know. You're absolutely right. We should enjoy the time we have," he said before sweeping her off her feet and, ignoring her shriek of protest, threw her into the pond.

Laughing as she sputtered, Raoul peeled of his clothes and slid in. He swam over to the middle of the pond, which was deep enough that even he had to tread water. Jai stayed near the edge.

"What can't swim?" Raoul taunted. "Come on out and join me."

Jai scowled and then disappeared under the water, which was murky enough that Raoul couldn't see where she had gone. He waited for her to appear before him, but instead he felt a shadowy touch across his leg. When he reached down to grab her, she was already gone and popped up on the other side of the pond.

"What's wrong my lord? Something scary in the water?" Jai asked.

"Come here." Raoul said, his eyes skimming the slimness of her body and the perfect curves of her breasts.

Jai disappeared under the water again only to slide up against him. She wrapped her legs around his muscled waist and kissed him. Raoul adjusted to her weight easily, still treading water to hold them above water. Raoul used his hands as well, partially to avoid touching any of the sore parts of her body. Instead, he let her wrap around him, her kisses becoming increasingly urgent, as she touched him all over. Despite his efforts to the contrary, Raoul could feel his body responding to hers, and Jai giggled, "Enjoying yourself, Commander?" she whispered in his ear, the huskiness of her voice only adding to his pleasure.

"We have to stop," he murmured as she teasingly wiggled against him. "This is just cruel."

Jai pulled back. "Cruel? Are you suggesting I'm a tease? I'll have you know, I never start things I don't intend to finish."

"There's no way we can finish what you are starting," Raoul said, moving them towards the edge of the pond.

"Why not?"

"You're the one who keeps insisting you're marrying Vinson. I think he might notice if you're not a virgin," Raoul paused. "You are a virgin aren't you?"

Jai sighed. "Yes, I am, but that doesn't mean I have to stay that way. Let's just say we women discovered how to trick men into believing their virginal blood was flowing a long time ago. We were also smart enough to make sure men don't know, so don't go telling anyone and do proceed with bedding me," Jai looked around and wrinkled her nose. "Or ponding me, perhaps is a more appropriate thing to say in this situation."

"Even if you can trick Vinson, we shouldn't."

When Jai opened her mouth to respond, Raoul kissed her, hoping to avoid an argument on the issue. The truth was, he was scared of how attached he was getting to the girl and knew that if she married Vinson, this would only end in pain for both of them. He picked her up as gently as possible and carried her out of the pond, placing her on her feet and kissing her.

"I need to get back," Raoul said, "and I'm sure you do, too."

Jai cocked her head and looked up at him, an amused smile on her face. "You really plan not to bed me don't you?"

Raoul sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea. Since you insist you're marrying Vinson, this is temporary. Sleeping together will only make things worse."

"Do you really think it can get worse? I don't want Vinson to be my first," Jai said. When Raoul remained impassive, Jai rolled her eyes. Standing up on tip-toe, she whispered directly in his ear, "How long do you really think you are going to able to say no to me?" She kissed his neck sensually then slid back down and began wringing the water out of her hair. She walked over to her portly pony, opened up one of the saddle bags and pulled two towels and a comb out. Tossing one to Raoul, she began drying off, then wrapped the towel around her and moved on to combing out her hair.

"For someone who didn't want to get in the cold pond, you sure came prepared for a dunking," Raoul said, toweling himself off.

Jai shrugged. "I've noticed men enjoy throwing women into water. I came prepared."

Raoul laughed. "Fair enough. How's your back feeling?"

"Better. You're right the water did feel nice. I'm over the worst of it anyways. I should be sitting fairly comfortably in a day or two and able to sleep on my back a few days after that. By the way, we are going back to Stone Mountain tomorrow until the Progress begins. I'll try and stop by to say good-bye in the morning, but I can't promise I'll be able to sneak away."

Rather than respond, Raoul simply pulled on his breeched and went over to hold her close to him, his arms loosely wrapped around her. She leaned her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "Time to go," she whispered sadly, then pulled away and wrapped her hair quickly in bun, before stepping into her skirt and tying it at her waist. Raoul picked up her jacket and helped her slip it on, making her wince despite his attempts to minimize her pain. He slowly re-buttoned it, caressing her skin as worked his way up. When he was done, he sat her hat atop her head, tipping it back and leaning in for a kiss. Breaking free, she mounted her pony easily.

"Good-bye, Raoul," she said, blowing him a kiss before riding away.

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Raoul was in a daze for the rest of the day, wavering between pleasure brought on by re-playing the events of earlier and anger at the welts he had seen. He also felt relieved that he hadn't simply beat Vinson down until he couldn't get up. The truth was the only way Jai would ever be safe is if she sought refuge at the Temple of the Goddess. Under the law, her father and husband could do what they wished, only the priestesses could protect her. As much as he hated to admit it, he could only make things worse. He'd have to convince her to go to the priestesses. It was really the only answer, but she would have known about that option, and what were these other circumstances she mentioned? How could he help her when she insisted she was marrying Vinson? She couldn't marry him! She's too smart and…beautiful. Goddess she was beautiful. She was right. It was going to take all his self-control to say no, but he had too. If Vinson ever found out she was anything other than pure as snow, he knew he wouldn't be able to protect her from his or her father's rage.

This constant circular thought process meant that by the time he'd finished with Kel's lessons, his head was pounding. As soon as he finished ordering supplies for the Own, he undressed and slid into bed, wearing only a loincloth. He fell quickly into a deep slumber, hazy images of Jai filling his dreams. His dream became less and less hazy as his dream self gave over to his desires entirely. He kissed her on the neck and slid his hands over breasts and down her stomach, hearing her moan at his touch. He moved his hand down further, teasing her between her legs, hearing her whisper, "Please," and letting her tug him on top of her. He opened his eyes slowly as she arched up towards him, and suddenly realized that his dream had somehow become a reality.

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Alright, I am starting to hit my stride here--and in case you're wondering, we haven't even begun to get to the meat of the story and action does occur--major action, just you wait. Now that being said, my lack of reviews is making me sad, so I am holding chapters hostage....I need at least a few reviews before the next chapter gets put up. Besides, I really need to know what you guys like/don't like. I'm guessing you're prob getting bored with the romance, so am I, but I'm a little hampered because I decided to stick to the real Squire story line and because of where in the story I decided to place my plot. Now, I write very fast, so a few people review and a chapter will go up pretty quickly, and then another with more reviews, and before you know it this will be quite fun.