“You’d really rather I watched you get punished than be sent to spend a night or two away?” Brande asked.
Melsint nodded quickly.
She sighed. “Because I wouldn’t. I would rather be sent away.”
“Then when it’s your turn, I won’t watch. I’ll just pretend I’m watching, but I won’t.”
“So be it,” Brande said, rising from the bed and stalking out of the room like an animal ready to pounce. “All right,” she said in a measured tone. “As usual, you will have it your way.”
Evston was still dressed in a fine suit of clothes, but the commander had stripped down to a pair of skin shorts. His rippling muscles looked especially aggressive as there were scrapes on his arms.
“What happened?” she asked, coming up short.
He drained a bit of spirits from a glass. “Combat training with new recruits,” he said, setting the glass aside.
“You must be tired,” she said hopefully.
“My muscles are warmed up and ready for work. That’s good, since I hear a couple of pets have been naughty.Again.”
She flushed. “Not so terribly bad,” she said.
He narrowed his dark eyes. “No?”
She swallowed. “Disobedient, yes.”
The commander grabbed a cushion and dropped it on the floor near a large barrel. “Get out of that shift and kneel there.”
She blinked, then glanced at Evston. As usual, he coolly observed the situation from a casual distance. He had obviously known she would not be able to withstand the pressure from his brother and his brother’s wife.
“And what do you plan? To watch?” she demanded.
“Not your concern. Yours is to obey, prettily, little pet.”
“I’ll help,” Melsint said, hurrying over.
“No, no. I’m perfectly capable,” she said, sliding the thin gown over her head. “I do not shrink back once I’ve made up my mind to do something.”
Melsint smiled. “I know. You’re the bravest girl in the realm.”
Somehow that little bit of pride in Melsint’s voice eased her concerns, taking much of the sting away.
“You are so beautiful!” Melsint exclaimed.
“I thought you weren’t going to look,” Brande admonished in a teasing tone.
“Oh,” Mels said, slapping a hand over her eyes. “Sirs, may I be blindfolded?”
“No,” both men said in unison.
The commander swept his wife up and draped her face down over the barrel.
“If you close your eyes, little girl,” Rocurt said to Brandese, “I’ll spank her twice as long and send her to bed without sex.”
“No!” Mels cried.
“Understood,” Brande said, dropping onto the cushion that was much closer to the barrel than was entirely comfortable.
“Now, kitten, what do you have to say for yourself?”
