Chapter 38

The following day, Luke and Marion were sore from their extended sexcapades; Marion could barely move, and Luke’s muscles were aching like they had not been since boot camp. So, it didn’t help matters any when Gabriella burst into the bedroom fresh as a daisy, and her chirping got moans and groans from both Marion and Luke.

“It should be illegal for anyone to be that cheerful in the morning,” complained Marion.

“I second that motion,” groaned Luke.

It was already late morning, and it was a bright day out. Ever looking for a chance to have fun, Gabriella skipped over to the window and threw back the curtains. Luke moaned in misery as he grabbed a cover and drew it over his and Marion’s heads.

“Oh, you two are just complaining ‘cause you’re both getting old!” said Gabriella, earning another moan from Luke while Marion threw an extra pillow at her.

Gabriella then entered the bathroom and started the hot water in their tub. She figured the warm water would help get Marion and Luke going again. Luke was missing coffee at this moment. When he was a marine, he drank so much coffee that the running joke was his blood was black. While slowing down drastically as a civilian, Luke still liked having a cup or two daily. Now he felt he would do about anything for a cup, even a crappy one.

Gabriella came in from the bathroom, almost throwing Marion and Luke out of bed. She frog-marched them into the bathroom, where they slid into the warm water with moans of pleasure. When Gabriella had been forcing Marion into the bathroom, she saw Marion’s arse had dried rivers of cum coming out of it. Now Gabriella knew why Marion was so slow-moving this morning and why she and Luke had been extra noisy the night before. So now it was time to add insult to injury. Gabriella swatted Marion’s arse, leaving a light red mark and getting a loud yip from Marion. Gabriella then wrapped her arms around Marion’s beautiful body:

“What’s wrong, honey? Why is your rear so sore?” She asked in her innocent schoolgirl voice.

“I’m guessing you already know why my arse is sore. I will say that is not the last time we do that. I mean, I wouldn’t want to have my arse fucked by Luke’s monster every day, but once in a while would be very nice.” Marion stated as she slid under the water.

Luke and Marion stayed and soaked until the water was cold. The warm water had done wonders on their sore muscles; now it was time to start the day. Luke went down to his workshop to continue working on an accurate watch. He already had made some that could keep time to within five minutes a day, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He was after a chronograph, so when Marion got a navy, they could operate effectively at sea for months. Also, it would allow the trains that were slowly becoming more available to operate much more efficiently. He enjoyed working with his hands, and it helped him relax. He worked for a few hours before he went to find lunch, and then it was time for his favorite activity; it was time to play with his daughter for a few hours.

Mackenzie was growing rapidly and was starting to try to crawl. Luke just adored his daughter, and Marion loved the look on his face when they played together. She loved it because he was at his absolute happiest when he played with their daughter. He would give her horsy rides around the room and tickle her, and once she was tired, he would read to her while she fell asleep. Luke truly missed this while away on campaigns; he missed watching his daughter grow up and reading to her. When Marion told the other castle women about Luke, they refused to believe her. It wasn’t until they could peek into where Luke was playing with Mackenzie one afternoon that the other women started believing Marion.

Marion had carefully watched Luke today as well. Seeing her big, strong husband be so loving and gentle with their daughter warmed her heart. After a while, she had to move away because she was quietly crying; she was so awkward with children, even her own. She knew why she was so uneasy around children. When Marion was growing up, there weren’t many other children in the castle, and her father ignored her most of the time. An endless line of tutors and governesses had raised her, with many also doubling as her father’s courtesans. It was no wonder that Cecilia had grown up so messed up. Marion herself had been weak and messed up until she met Luke.

Moved by some force, Marion went to find Pollyanna to see how her book sales were progressing. Marion knew sales were slowly picking up as more people learned to read and write. Pollyanna’s Bible was the best seller, especially since it was published in English and not Latin. Unsurprisingly, the small Jewish community was the biggest market for some of the more technical books. It had been a battle royal to get them to be more open and for her people to accept this. It helped that Luke was as powerful as he was and that he made it crystal clear to everyone that he wouldn’t tolerate any discrimination of any kind from anyone. Marion’s having several court Jews also helped some, especially once Marion instructed them to teach the rest of the population how to read and write.

Pollyanna’s book business was beginning to expand, and some of Luke’s more technical books were now in demand. The church labeled these books as heresy, which at one time would have frightened Marion badly; now, she laughed at the church and ensured it knew all about her feelings for them. These books had begun to make a difference in ordinary people’s lives since the information they contained helped farmers get better yields from their fields, blacksmiths make better steel, people learn how to read, and perhaps most important of all, they taught Pollyanna engineering and Alice medicine. Since Marion had visited one of Pollyanna’s enterprises, her next stop was to visit one of Alice’s.

At first, Alice refused to make any money off medicine or her medical skills. However, as time passed, Alice noticed that many people initially interested in medicine quit once they learned of Alice’s belief that money should not be made from others’ suffering. One day, she talked to Luke about this because she couldn’t understand why more people didn’t want to follow her in her noble pursuit.