But then he didn’t rush me either, not now that he had me doing as he asked.
“All the way, Abi, you know the drill.”
I didn’t respond, I knew how he wanted me.
I lowered my upper body until it was planted to the desk, my head resting on its side against the cool surface, my rear forced into a proffered position for his awaiting hand.
“That’s a good girl, now raise your skirt.”
Clamping my eyes shut, I did as he asked, my hands gathering up the skirt on either side of me until it rested entirely at the base of my back. Not even the heat of the fire was enough to take away the sudden draft across my naked behind, and I could feel my skin prickling in protest.
“Widen them,” he commanded, nudging at my feet with his own.
I shuffled them but it wasn’t enough. He continued to kick at my feet until the fabric of my white lace panties pulled taut around my ankles.
“Better,” he said, backing off.
I tried to banish the image from my mind of him above me, surveying my submissive form, getting me just so. I tried to think of something else, of happier times, anything to transport myself elsewhere to help me get through this but his voice kept dragging me back. “So what say you, Abi, shall I make it twenty-two to cover each of your sinful years in my presence?”
I bit into my lip, and squeezed my eyes tight, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of hearing a response.
“Answer me,” he demanded, his hands shoving away my own so that he could take hold of my dress and shove it higher up my back.
I nodded against the desk, my mouth opening to say “yes” but the sound became a croak as the flat of his hand made stinging contact with my behind. Caught off guard by the timing of his strike, my unprepared body shifted painfully into the desk. The burning friction of the wood against the bare skin of my face instantly stung, whilst my thighs plummeted into the desk edge with bruising force.
“Twenty-two it is,” he said gruffly as he moved to strike again.
Blindly, I reached above my head to take hold of the opposite desk edge, seeking its stability to keep my body still and minimize the pain of his next blow.
“You deserve this, don’t you?” he declared as strike two hit home, punishingly on target as he made contact with the already stinging flesh.
I fought back the whimper that threatened to erupt, kept my lids clamped shut to hold in the tears that welled.
“Answer me, God damn you!”
With sickening acceptance, I nodded, the word “yes” leaving me on a choked sob.
“I can’t hear you...” he warned.
“Yes!” I yelped in outright pain as he timed his strike with my response, the impact so precise the crack resounded in my ears, the stinging contact ricocheting like shards of heated ice through my welted skin. The tears were too much to contain as they fell across my face to trickle onto the desk beneath me.
“Too right!” he exclaimed, the satisfaction at hearing me break ringing through in his tone.
Another sound came from the fireplace, only this time it persisted. I tried to identify it and then it became horrifyingly obvious, it was someone sobbing!
Fear and mortification rife, I tried to look over my shoulder but he refused to let me, his hand thrusting though my hair, pinning my head to the desk.
“I warned you to be quiet,” he bit out, addressing the stranger in the room.
“Please, Edward,please, don’t do this.”
Emma!
I tried to push myself up, to grapple with my skirt and pull it back down but he was too strong. His hands making light work of keeping my body still.
“What did you think would happen?” he threw at her.
“I don’t know, I don’t know.”
