The beautiful room had wallpaper of cream and gold. Through the bedroom door I glimpsed a massive bed that I then tried very hard not to look at. Soft lighting. Rose petals scattered across the duvet. A bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket.
Chris poured himself a whisky and set it on the table beside the armchair. Then he came to stand behind me.
I felt his hands in my hair first, finding the pins that held my up-do in place. One by one, he removed them with careful fingers, and my blonde hair tumbled down around my shoulders. His lips brushed my ear, sending a shiver through me.
“You looked so beautiful today,” he murmured, his breath warm against my skin.
His mouth moved to my neck, kissing along the sensitive curve where it met my shoulder. I gasped, my head tilting to give him better access without my conscious permission. Heat bloomed wherever his lips touched, spreading through my body like wildfire.
His hands found the hooks at the back of my dress—dozens of them, running from my neck to my waist. He unfastened them slowly, one at a time, kissing each inch of skin as he exposed it.
“I love you so much, Valerie,” he whispered against my spine. “My beautiful wife.”
Wife. The word made my stomach flip. I was his wife now. Truly his.
When the last hook came free, Chris stepped back. I watched him move to the armchair. The leather creaked as he sat down. He was so tall that his eyes only had to rise a little from level to meet mine, even with my heels on.
“Take off your dress,” he said quietly. “Slowly.”
My hands shook as I reached for the shoulders of my gown. This was it. The first thing from the brochure.Your husband will tell you to undress.
I let the heavy fabric slide down my arms, over my hips, pooling at my feet in a cloud of white silk and lace. I stepped out of it carefully, my legs trembling so badly I thought I might fall.
I stood before my husband in the white lingerie my mother and Megan had chosen. The bra that offered support without really covering anything. The tiny lace panties—the thong that left my bottom almost completely bare. The garter belt and stockings.
“Come here,” Chris said.
I took a step forward. Then another. Until I stood directly in front of him, close enough that my knees almost touched his.
“Closer.”
I moved forward until I was standing between his knees, and he spread them wider to accommodate me.
Then he looked at me.
The brochure spoke in my head again.Your husband will wish to inspect you.
His eyes traveled slowly over my body, taking in every detail. The way the lace stretched across my small breasts. The curve of my waist above the garter belt. The pale skin of my thighs above the stockings.
And then, most intently, the tiny triangle of lace that covered my pussy. I let out a little gasp as, wordlessly, he reached his hands out to my hips and turned me, so that he could see the thong that disappeared between my bottom cheeks—the little round globes that he had spanked so hard that afternoon, to teach me my first lesson in obedience.
When he finished turning me all the way around I saw that his eyes had narrowed. I bit my lip, feeling my heart jump as I realized what I could see in my bridegroom’s gaze.
Hunger.
“Kneel down,” he said.
“What?” I asked, swallowing hard. “I mean… what… sir? Why?—”
Chris interrupted me. “Because I said so.”
I blinked at him. He hadn’t spoken the dominant, arrogant words in what felt like a mean, let alone an abusive way. He had said them matter-of-factly, with the clear expectation that he need say nothing more.
Of course he needn’t,I thought, trying to hold back a whimper.He showed me this afternoon what will happen if I disobey an instruction he gives me.
My right hand went instinctively behind me, as if to defend my bottom from further discipline. I had no choice, did I? The brochure had made it all perfectly clear.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I sank to my knees between his legs, the carpet soft beneath me. This position felt even more vulnerable than standing had been. I was looking up at him now, and he was looking down at me, and there was no mistaking the dynamic between us.
