“What was it like?”
My cheeks warmed at once and I clamped my lips tightly together as he continued to give my bottom firm, slow spanks that stoked the fire growing inside of me.
“I said, what was it like, Cecily?”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
He answered me with a smattering of swift, hard spanks that surprised me with their sting.
“Ow!”
“Do not hold out on me, my dove. If I ask you a question, I expect an answer. I expect—”
“Obedience,” I finished petulantly. “I know, I know.”
I was quickly rewarded with a dozen of harder spanks that left me crying out and struggling to catch my breath. “That hurt!” I reproached, looking back at him over my shoulder.
“Thank you for telling me. It shall always hurt when you disobey me, my sweet.”
“You can’t do that,” I scowled. “You can’t call me yoursweetone moment and thrash me the next!”
“Why ever not?” he queried, grinning unrepentantly.
“B-because!” I spluttered. “It’s simply not done!”
“So far as you know,” he countered. “Where I’m from, men rule their households, and their wives are dutiful and respectful, or their bottoms pay the price.”
“Nonsense.” To my utter surprise, the spanking stopped and I found myself being helped up until I was sitting on Antony’s knee.
“It is nothing of the kind,” he told me, his voice stern yet tender at the same time. “Men and women have been living this way for generations, even if it isn’t something you saw in the castle of Hohenzollern.”
“That doesn’t meanIshould have to,” I said, but my voice did not sound nearly as strong as I would have liked.
“We have already had this conversation, Cecily. You will not play me false, my dear. If you vow to be my obedient wife, then I will hold you to your word.” He softened the words by running his hand over my dark head. “However, it isn’t as bad as you may think.”
“I know exactly how bad it can be,” I said. “I’ve felt your hand against my backside before.”
“So you have. What I meant to say is that at least you will never wonder where you stand with me. I will do everything within my power to keep you happy and safe. As long as you do as you’re bid, you needn’t worry about anything.”
He made it sound so easy, but I knew from experience that men often said one thing and did another. I supposed there wasn’t a woman alive who didn’t know that.
“And as for me not tending to your spanking yesterday, don’t think I’ve forgotten. I simply thought, considering everything you learned, that you would appreciate a reprieve.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome. Unless… unless you’dlikeme to punish you?”
I should have said no. I should have thrown my head back and laughed at the absurdity of him saying such a thing, but even more absurd was the fact that I was thinking about it. If I’d only said, “Thank you, no,” perhaps everything would have been different. But instead, I tilted my head back, looked into his light gray eyes and handsome face, and put my mouth very near his as I whispered, “Will it hurt?”
I knew I was getting to him when it took him a moment to answer. Something about that fact delighted me. I’d never thought of myself as being a beautiful woman before, but something about the way Antony studied my face, the way his eyes were drinking me in even now, told me he thought otherwise. And God help me, but enemy or no, I delighted in it.
He cleared his throat, but didn’t break eye contact with me. “Yes, Cecily, it will hurt. You disobeyed me. You endangered yourself. If I am going to punish you for it, then you will receive exactly the kind of punishment you deserve. And yes, it will be a long thrashing, and yes, it will most certainly hurt.”
Something told me that even then I could have demurred and gone to sleep. I should have, but I did not. “I think… I think that it would not be a good thing to begin our marriage with things left unsettled between us.”
“I see.”
The scrutiny in his warm eyes made me squirm. I was so uncertain as to whether or not I was doing the right thing. I had better be sure, because once I said I was, it was my bottom that would pay for it. As I looked at him—every strong curve of his handsome face—I realized that more than anything I wanted to trust him. I didn’t, not entirely, but I was beginning to believe that it was possible for that to change. Perhaps in order to discover him trustworthy I had to extend a little trust.
