Appreciated: Visiting The Castle
We admire a lot of authors and Maren Smith has a special place in our heart since she helped us with our first book. She has graciously allowed us to borrow her characters here. This interview scene is our way to honor a great writer, a lovely woman and some of the characters she’s created.
Visiting The Castle
Paula shifted on the bench uncomfortably. Jim squeezed the hand he was holding. “Melda, relax,” he said in a gentle tone.
She shifted again. “I don’t like being interviewed. I’m used to asking the questions. What if they want to know something, we’re not comfortable sharing?”
Jim gave her the smile she hadn’t been able to resist from the start, but she still couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Why did we agree to do this in the first place?”
He pressed a tender kiss on the back of her hand and replied, “We’re doing this interview for the subscribers to the Blushing Books Blog, remember. These are the same people who are going to read our story. Karen Nappa went to a lot of trouble to set this up with Maren Smith and the Masters of the Castle. We owe it to her to try.”
Paula fought the urge to cover her face with her hands, which wasn’t too hard because one of them was firmly held by his big warm one.
She started to relax. Jim was here and he would take care of things. She loved that about him and about their relationship. He gave her space to do her job the way she liked and he supported her, even encouraged her to strive for more. Jim would never begrudge her success or try to sabotage a promotion. Damn, she loved that man!
The door opened and they rose as a sweet looking woman in a medieval noblewoman’s dress walked up to them with an outstretched hand. “Hi, I’m Kaylee, Master Marshall’s submissive . Welcome. We’re so happy you could come to Ohio.” The small woman seemed to blush a bit and continued, “We’ve all read your story and we’re so excited to have you here today.”
Oh well, maybe this won’t be so bad after all if everyone is as sweet as Kaylee.
Her hand still in Jim’s grasp, she followed Kaylee down a corridor and into an imposing office, decorated with a variety of impact toys. They were greeted by a man seated behind a mahogany desk and another woman. The man rose looking as imposing as the room. Kaylee rushed to his side and introduced him as Master Marshall. He shook their hands as they exchanged a greeting. Marshall brought the attention to the other woman in the room, Sandy, their resident journalist turned novelist. “I don’t know what it is with those women writing tales about us, they should be spanked for spilling our stories,” he grumbled. He turned his gaze back to Kaylee. “Remind me why I agreed to having this interview here?”
Kaylee faced him and took his face between her hands. “Sir, you know how much I enjoyed their story and how excited I am about this!”
Sandy quickly stepped closer to Paula and Jim. “I’m so glad you could come on such short notice,” she said as she gestured to the open seats after their introduction. “I’m working on a tight deadline with this piece.” She settled into a chair herself, while Kaylee busied herself with drinks. Paula accepted a glass of water. It would help with her dry throat and keep her from fidgeting since the placement of the chairs made it impossible to hold hands. Paula briefly wondered if people she interviewed felt this unsettled. She couldn’t care less about the guilty ones, but she felt a twinge of sympathy for people who just happened to end up on the wrong side of the law, like Josh.
“…was bad, but I’m glad because it brought Paula back into my life.” Jim’s baritone brought her back to the room and the reason they were at the Castle.
“I’m curious, Paula,” Sandy addressed her and Paula straightened her back, “where do you guys live now that you’re married?”
She smiled. “We’ve decided to live in my grandmother’s, er, my house. Well, it’s our place now. It’s a lovely home, now we’ve sorted out the junk.” She shot Jim a rueful smile. During his recovery, she’d done less to sort out the house and it had taken them over two months to get the place into shape.
“And how is work going?” Sandy asked.
“Busy as always.” Jim laughed. “Police detectives in a major city always will be.”
Paula thought back to her stint in rural Missouri and added, “Police officers will be busy everywhere, I guess. They live to serve and protect, so even when the crime rate is low there’s always something to do to aid the public.”
Everyone nodded.
“Of course, we don’t want to give away too much about the books and spoil the reading experience, but can you update us a bit on your friends from Club Indigo?” Sandy asked.
Paula looked over to Jim and he took over again. “Our friends are doing great. James and Laura have settled in both as a married couple and with Josh. Connor and Suzie are solid now they’re married and Tim has learned to trust his new dad. Abby is turning into a lovely young woman.” He scrubbed his jaw and grinned. “Connor’s already working on ideas to scare off possible suitors. Good luck with that!”
Paula had to agree. Abby was a charming girl and it wouldn’t be too long before the boys came sniffing around.
“And the rest of the members of Club Indigo?” now Kaylee asked getting a disapproving look from the imposing Dom next to her.
“Well, Kaylee, you’ll just have to wait for the next books to find out,” Paula said and then grinned as she caught the pretty pout. Paula wondered if Kaylee managed to influence Master Marshall with such cute face?
Marshall looked over at his wife. “Do you really think you’ll get your way looking like that?”
“No, Sir. But you did promise.”
He turned back to Paula and Jim. “My wife and I would like to invite you to stay for a few days, now that you’ve come all the way here.”
TOP 5
These are some of our favorite books/series that should be turned into a movie/series
- Maren Smith’s Masters of the Castle
- BJ Wane’s Cowboy Doms
- Kym Grosso’s Immortals of New Orleans
- Evangeline Anderson The Institute: Daddy Issues
- Sierra Cartwright With This Collar (Mastered #1)