Chapter 2

"You beast, I can't believe you kept me in there as long as you did," said Suzan softly in her deepest voice with a sexy smile, as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.

They stood in front of their room door and she gave him a light kiss on the mouth.

Dusty could feel her every once in a while massaging his neck, while she was holding him with her arms draped over his shoulders. He noticed she was doing that more and more lately to various parts of his body, but to tell the truth he had no real complaints about it.

"Well I for one blame you for that. I was clearly ready well before now, but I just couldn't make myself break free," said Dusty as she smiled at her and pulled her closer to himself by wrapping his arms around her.

"You know, I certainly didn't hear you complaining about anything we did while we were in the middle of doing it," said Suzan with a fake pout.

"Well you certainly heard something when you bit my upper back during our first session. I'm not sure how to explain to anyone who sees it how you managed to do that," said Dusty as he kissed her lips quickly.

She soon replaced the pout with her sexy smile again as she half lowered her eye lids and pulled back to look up at him seductively.

"I'm not sure how I did it either, but I'm definitely going to be ready for you when you do that humming thing like you did to me a bit ago once I get back. I have to say, I really liked that. What other surprises do you have for me once I get back I wonder?" asked Suzan softly.

"You'll have to come back to me to find out. This time I started to wonder if I could drive you as crazy as you do me when you hum, so I decided to start you off with that. I'm glad to see that my efforts worked on you as well as yours do on me, and so now I have more ideas for you and me.

"But the next time I do that to you I'm going to secure your arms to the bed so you don't somehow manage to curl your body around the top of my head and bite my upper back again like you did this time. If I didn't sound proof the room the whole guild would have been pounding on our door the way I made you scream when I did it," said Dusty also softly as he gave her a wicked smile of his own.

"And I have to say thank you for that because that was well worth your efforts. And if any anyone asks about that little love bite I gave you, just say "My wife said I'm very good at what I do" and that should settle it all questions," said Suzan softly, but now in a deep sexy voice that only she could pull off.

Dusty started to chuckle and lean in for another kiss, but suddenly the sound of soft laughter was heard off to the side down the hallway.

Before they could turn towards it they heard Marie say "Ooooo kinky. I always wondered what you two were up to in there. It's always so quiet, but you both have always looked like you've been doing gymnastics in there once you come out. Now at least I know that you like to tie each other down. We'll have to share tricks sometimes of what we all like to do. I'm sure Seth and I have a few you've not heard of."

While Suzan laughed out loud and smiled with her friend Dusty turned about fifty shades of red before he stammered something and headed off to the dining hall in search of breakfast. Marie and Suzan just smiled warmly at him as they saw him head off.

"So are you ready to go? We're heading out soon," said Marie as she stood away from her friend smiling with her arms crossed.

"I can't. Joi came to me and asked for me to fill in for Tonya and I just finished speaking to Dusty about it. He doesn't mind if I meet you all later in a few weeks," said Suzan.

"Looking at him I'm sure he didn't mind how the direction the discussion took, but what contract is it?" asked Marie

"It's a hush one and I won't know anything about it until I agree to go," said Suzan.

"Ahh one of those. Ok, we'll see you when you get there then. Rachel should be ready by the time you show up and we can all see the newest member of our little family born. At times when I look at Rachel's smiling face I want to settle down and have a few of my own, and at other times I want to continue to see the world. I'm not getting any younger but there is so much more that I want to do," said Marie as she looked at Suzan.

"I also torn, but I think I want to have a few kids while I have the strength to chase them. Dusty's kids aught to be a handful," smiled Suzan.

Both women seemed to laugh at that statement.

"So have you heard how the public naming ceremony went for Queen Morigan and King Millen's baby boy? How is little Prince Alexander Duncan Plantagenet'? Wow that is quite the mouthful there," said Suzan.

"Well she did insist on both the paternal and maternal fathers names for him, and King Millen agreed. It was one more step to further to unify Patenenall as a newly created kingdom. From what I've heard the people seem to be fiercely loyal now to the baby after his birth and all disputes over the joined kingdoms seem to have died down.

"Seth has an invitation from the King and Queen to stop by when we visit for a private showing. They want to publically name Seth and me as his Godparents. Have you ever heard of such a thing for non-royalty?" asked Marie beaming.

"Congratulations! Both of you deserve it. Does that mean Morigan has finally forgiven all of us for our part in keeping her from conquering his Kingdom?" asked Suzan.

"Yep! It seems that she's really starting to fall hard for the King. He's really is a nice guy when you get to know him and he worked hard at wooing her, and the last time we were there for a visit while she was pregnant it was obvious that she had finally fallen hard for him the way she kept looking at him.

"I'm not sure what he did, but he obviously did the right thing to make someone as wild as her finally fall in love with someone," said Marie with a smile.

"Good, I was worried that her ambitions would finally get the best of her," said Suzan

"Oh, I'm sure she's not given up on them, she's just keeping them better hidden. I think she now just has more pressing things on her plate. The King, wanting to have us in a position to do something about them if they ever come up again, wants to award Seth the title of Duke to raise him to a position to be able to stop them.

"Seth wanted to refuse, but the King pointed out that he couldn't give it to Dusty because he was sure Dusty would refuse out of hand, but he was sure that Dusty would be on hand to help out his friends if they ever needed help stopping her again. Daniel was out as a choice because the King worried some might believe he had helped her before with her devious plans, even though he didn't.

"If Seth was close enough to the crown to stop the Queens plans he could certainly hear about them early enough to get Dusty to help. That is a cunning plan of his. So I'm still torn on it. If we do accept, that means we'll not be here at the guild as much, if ever, and I'll have to look at settling down somewhat there. But if we do accept, then we can also start our family.

"See what I mean? I'm still deciding and tossing it around in my mind. Seth said we will do whatever "I" want because he only wants to make me happy. I'm not sure if he's being sweet or dodging making the decision and putting it all on my shoulders, because I'll have to be the one fending off the sore losers I beat out for him if we settle there," said Marie with a half smile, before she chuckled softly.

"Well I'm sure you'll do what works for you. Dusty hasn't said anything, but I'm sure he wants children as well. He plays with all children that he passes and tries to make friends with them all. He's so sweet to them that it's hard not to picture him that way with ours.

"Oh, before I start thinking too far down this path I need to catch up with Joi. I'll have plenty of time to think about what I want to do with Dusty later. I need to tell her I'm in. I told her I would take about an hour or so but it's been far longer than I've planned," said Suzan.

"Ok hon, be careful as always and we'll see you when you get down there," said Marie before she gave hug.

Turning Suzan went off to the job hall that contained the bulletin board that posted jobs. Joi would be there waiting for her answer as to what her plans were.

Soon Suzan saw Joi, Lena, and Katie sitting at a table close to each other quietly discussing something. There were others in the hall with them, but on this side of the room the tables were spaced further apart to give the occupants privacy to discuss confidential contracts amongst themselves.

Joi hadn't change out of her earlier outfit and so Suzan wondered if she planned to travel wearing her grey open sleeveless vest, light blue blouse, and black pants.

Suzan looked over at the other two. Lena, also someone who was familiar to her, was a woman who had a slender yet athletic body, with close cropped black hair, brown eyes, and an easy smile. Lena used a sword same as Suzan though she wasn't quite as good yet.

The third woman was named Katie and she was a blonde woman, although not quite as blonde as Suzan, but had soft blue eyes and easy going yet soft look about her. She wasn't fat or heavy, but she did give that appearance by her rounded face.

Katie had large breast that were hard to miss and filled out her frame. She still turned a head or two when she came into a room in her loose dresses. For some reason, similar to Suzan, she tried hard to hide her figure. She did it well enough that most really didn't know what her body looked like.

She was also a mage like Joi, but she was a fifth circle red and had two circles in blue. She was quiet all the time and rarely spoke up unless she had to.

Suzan would be joining their group to be the primary weapon user with Lena as her back up. In this way they would be able to protect the mages who would offer them support. It was a setup that worked well for all.

As Suzan approached the table everyone looked up at her striding towards them.

"So by the smile on your face I see that Dusty was ok with your helping us, correct? I bet his smile is just as big, right?" asked Joi with a smile.

"Of course. The only thing is he asked of me was to be careful, but I want to say goodbye one last time before we leave," said Suzan with a smile.

"Ok, but we'll need to move quickly. Have a seat and we'll bring you up to speed," said Joi.

"So what is the contract?' asked Suzan as she sat down.

She had quickly shook hands with the two other women as she nodded and acknowledged their presences before she sat down.

"Have you heard of Earl Thomas of Stockworth?" asked Joi

"Of course I have. He's the shipping merchant who made all of his money by figuring out how to keep livestock alive for long voyages without much loss. He also expanded into farming and he has a distillery that ships out good short beer if I remember correctly. My husband got a few good ideas from him," said Suzan.

"Yep, that's him. Well he has a problem. Someone has kidnapped his son, the heir to his fortune and lands, and they said that if he told anyone they would kill him and make it look like he had a small accident. Problem is they've had him for months now and no matter what the Earl pays they won't release him. They see him as some kind of cash cow. Our contract is to get him back," said Lena quietly.

"Wow, so if he's not supposed to contact anyone for help how is there a contract to rescue him?" asked Suzan.

"One of the servants in the castle, the nanny, has taken one out via a friend of a relative. This way there is no direct link back to the Earl and he has no idea what is going on. What their fear is, is that once they have everything they want from the Earl they will still kill the boy," said Joi.

"How old is he?" asked Suzan.

"Nine seasons old. He's just old enough to remember them, but not old enough to get away on his own," said Joi.

"Wow what a mess. So if they've been giving them what they want for a while why the rush now?" asked Suzan.

"Because they've been taking longer and longer in between times before they ask for anything. At first it was several things a week. Money, livestock, food, wine, etc, but now they don't seem to be trying as hard. The fear is either they have recently killed the boy and no longer care what happens, or they have everything they need and this was just a distraction for some other purpose.

"Either way we need to find out and get some answers. If he's already dead they want the people responsible for it to pay, if he's not they just want him back. But there is a bonus to be had if the boy is both alive and we are able to bring them back to face justice. But they don't want it to get out that someone is working from the outside to help them," smiled Joi.

"I see what you meant earlier. Ok, let me go tell Dusty bye and lets get started. While I know Dusty wouldn't say anything if I asked him not to, I'll still give my word that I won't say anything to anyone and we'll have him back before they know it. Give me a moment to pack and I'll meet you out front in ten," smiled Suzan.

Quickly getting up, the four women separated as they went to prepare to leave.

"Dusty you've been pretty quiet," said Seth as they headed for Patenenall.

They were making very good time and they were only two weeks out from the capital since it had been moved. Normally it should have taken four weeks to get there, but since they pressed on hard they were expecting to do it in three.