I was close now.So close. My fingers worked my clit in tight circles while my other hand pinched my nipple the way Kiernan had shown me he liked.
The rule didn’t matter. I needed to take the edge off so I could sleep. I’d be good tomorrow. I’d be obedient. I’d?—
“Ophelia.”
I froze.
Kiernan stood in the doorway. The light from the corridor silhouetted him. I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the ice in his voice.
“What are you doing?”
My hand was still between my legs. There was no point in lying.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I whispered. “I?—”
“Was breaking my rule.” He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “I was very clear. Your pleasure belongs to me. Did you forget?”
“No.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
I had thought that. I’d been wrong.
He crossed to the bed and looked down at me. His face was unreadable in the darkness, but ice threaded his words.
“Get up. Go to Oliver’s room. Tell him to come here. Now.”
“Kiernan, I’m sorry?—”
“You will be.” He turned away. “Go.”
Oliver followedme to my room. He wore only loose sleep pants, his chest bare. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Ophelia broke a rule,” Kiernan said without turning around. “She touched herself without permission. Now, she needs to be punished, and you need to watch.”
“Punished how?” Oliver asked.
Kiernan turned. “Twenty strikes. She’ll count each one. If she loses count, we start over.” He motioned to me. “Come here, Ophelia.”
I crossed to him on shaking legs. He guided me to stand at the end of the bed, then sat on the edge of the mattress.
“Over my lap.”
My bare breasts pressed into the bedding as I draped myself across his thighs. My ass was raised and vulnerable. The position was humiliating and exposing and arousing all at once.
Kiernan’s hand rested on my spine. It was warm and steady.
“Oliver. Sit in that chair. Don’t look away.”
I heard Oliver cross the room. Heard the creak of the chair as he sat.
“Ophelia.” Kiernan’s voice softened slightly. “Do you understand why you’re being punished?”
“Yes, sir. I broke your rule.”
“What rule?”
“My pleasure belongs to you. I’m not allowed to come without your presence and permission.”
