Page 42

N aomi

The rest of the night passed by in a blur.

Ryker shuttled me out of the house and into a waiting car.

We drove to a place some distance away. I didn’t see where because I spent the entire ride curled against him, sobbing, my face pressed into the crook of his neck.

Once we arrived, he carried me into a bedroom and stripped me right there in the attached bathroom.

He turned on the shower and disrobed beside me, making sure that he kept a hand on me the entire time.

I furrowed my brow, reaching towards him and tracing my fingers along the cuts and bruises now revealed on my husband’s face and body.

His hand curled around mine, letting me know without words that he was alright and that everything was going to be okay.

We stepped under the hot water together, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, rested my head on his chest, and pressed my body against his.

His arms came around me and we just stood there.

Safe. My heartbeat gradually returned to normal as I listened to the steady beat of his own, and felt my adrenaline draining away.

“If you hadn’t come…” I began.

“Shhh. I did come. And I’m here now. You’re safe. Don’t let those thoughts continue any further, my love,” he murmured.

“But you shouldn’t have been there,” I pressed.

“I know I wasn’t supposed to be, but I know my little girl, don’t I?” he whispered.

“What?” I asked breathily.

His hand splayed across my lower back, pressing me to him even more closely. The hard rod of his cock pressed against my belly.

“I told you to delay the meeting with the emissary, didn’t I?”

A quick jolt of fear pitched down into my belly.

“Yes…”

“And did you?” he asked pointedly.

I shifted my gaze to stare down at the floor, but his hand grasped my chin and forced me to look up at him. I expected him to be angry, but his eyes were warm with his love and adoration.

“No,” I whispered, feeling so very bad.

“I knew you wouldn’t, little girl. I could tell from the sound of your voice that you were going to defy me,” he stated plainly. With every syllable, my heart sank, and guilt curdled up from the tips of my toes. I licked my lips, dread filling me.

“But I…I was trying to…” I attempted to explain myself, but Ryker shook his head and put a finger to my lips and, the words died on my tongue.

“Hush now. We will deal with that tomorrow after you have eaten and had a full night’s rest,” he answered. My skin heated and I felt my cheeks flush.

“Deal with it how?” I asked, unable to stop myself. I wanted to know what he was thinking, even though I already knew what the answer would be.

“I’m going to punish you, little girl,” he said simply. His arms squeezed around me, holding me tight.

It felt like such a safe place to be. I never wanted him to let go.

I slept cocooned in Ryker’s embrace the whole night.

The next morning, there was a knock on the door, and I started, but he kissed my forehead and went to answer it himself.

Naked, I pulled the sheets up to cover my breasts.

Ryker rolled in a cart, and I realized that we had probably come to a hotel or bed and breakfast the night before.

He unloaded the cart and poured a cup of coffee for me, serving it to me while I was still in bed.

I sipped it slowly, watching as he uncovered several platters of food.

Excited to see that a few of the plates were covered with thick pancakes, I wondered if they would be as good as the ones he’d made for me that first morning after he’d slept over back in New Englandia.

He set it all up on a wooden tray and carried it over to me.

“Eat up, sweetheart,” he said with a soft smile.

I couldn’t help but feast on the sight of him.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of dark gray sweatpants.

They were slung low on his hips, which only made his narrow waist and wide shoulders that much more apparent.

Ugly bruises marred his face, ribs and stomach, and I had to quell a rush of guilt at the sight.

I used my fork and knife to cut a small bite, popping it in my mouth without further delay.

“How is it?” he asked.

“Delicious, but not nearly as tasty as yours,” I smiled at him.

“You flatter me, pretty girl,” he grinned widely, cocking his head.

When we were finished, he took our plates away and loaded the cart up again before pushing it out the door.

After he closed it, I hopped out of bed and scuttled off into the bathroom, meaning to brush my teeth and my hair.

The appearance of my own bruised face in the mirror stopped me for a moment as the terror of the previous night rose up again in my mind’s eye.

I averted my gaze and quickly freshened up.

When I came back out, I froze in place at what awaited me.

He had sat down on the couch, directly in the middle. Seeing him waiting for me like that made my mouth feel like I’d swallowed a sweater.

The tension between us sparked. I knew what was about to happen. Even though I was nervous, a part of me knew that I needed this between us. He cared deeply about me, and this was about to be a very physical demonstration of just how much.

His gaze found mine and I knew that it was time for the punishment he’d promised last night.

“Come here, little girl.”

There was no way out of this, and my feet simply moved, obedient to my husband’s command.

Before I knew it, I was standing there naked in front of him.

Despite my nerves, my nipples had pebbled into hard little buds and my inner thighs were already wet with my arousal.

When his gaze dropped, it settled there long enough so that I knew without a doubt that he had seen it.

That only made my nipples tighten further.

“I explicitly told you to delay the meeting with the emissary until I returned, didn’t I, little girl?”

I hummed nervously.

“Answer me, little girl,” he demanded, his voice firmer than before.

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.

“And did you?”

“No, sir,” I muttered, staring down at the floor.

“You defied me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” I whimpered.

“Why?”

“I thought I could handle it myself. I wanted to show you I could do it. I was hoping to open a channel of communication between my old home and my new one,” I whispered, feeling more ashamed by the second.

Instead, I’d put us both in danger. If Ryker hadn’t shown up yesterday, I was certain I would never have seen him again, and probably wouldn’t have lived to see this new day.

Worse, I’d put my husband in danger. He could have been killed in the brawl with the beast.

“One of the cornerstones of marriage, my sweet wife, is that you never have to do anything alone, that you always have someone else there to support you, protect you, help you, whatever you need. Yesterday, by disobeying me, you deprived me of the chance to do any of those things. Because of that, you put yourself needlessly in danger,” he scolded gently, reaching his hand up to caress my bruised face.

The pinch on his brows betrayed his genuine horror that I’d been hurt and could have been killed.

I felt even smaller.

“I didn’t mean to…” I protested weakly.

“I will never force you to do anything you don’t want to do, little girl, but you do know what needs to happen, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir.” I stepped from one foot to the other anxiously.

“Tell me,” he pushed.

“A spanking,” I muttered.

“A spanking just to make this pretty little pussy wet?” he asked.

“No, sir,” I mumbled.

“A hard spanking?”

“Yes, sir,” I whispered fearfully.

“A spanking meant to punish you and teach you to obey your husband?”

“Yes, sir,” I wailed.

“Go into the bathroom and fetch the hairbrush for me. Bring it back and ask me for your punishment, my naughty, defiant girl.”

My stomach spiraled with fear. I lifted my gaze to his, but there was no room for negotiation anywhere to be seen. There was no other defense I could possibly think of to maneuver my way out of this.

I knew exactly what was going to happen: I was going to go get my hairbrush so that he could put me over his knee for a punishment spanking.

Time seemed to slow as I padded away into the bathroom. I picked up the hairbrush, noticing for the first time the wooden back and the weight of it. It was heavy.

That probably meant that it was going to hurt.

Before I knew it, I was back in front of him.

He held out his palm and I passed him the brush.

He put it aside and grasped my wrist, gently pulling me forward over one knee.

He pinned both my legs with his right, which made the nervous energy pumping through me surge.

There was no way to escape what was about to happen.

He would make certain of that.

His hand smoothed over my bare bottom, caressing it softly. I relaxed just the slightest bit, curling around him as his other hand grasped my hip.

“I’m sorry, sir,” I mumbled.

“I know, precious little girl.”

“Will you forgive me?” I asked, feeling myself begin to panic a little knowing what was coming.

“I forgave you before I even hung up the call, even knowing you would disobey me, my love,” he answered matter-of-factly.

My heart skipped a beat, swelling with feeling despite the situation I currently found myself in. His hand smoothed over my bare cheeks again, and I bit my lip, before I spoke once more.

“Please punish me. I need you to, sir,” I whispered.

“I know, sweet girl. I’ll always take care of you. By the time this is over, there will be no doubt of that in your head ever again,” he proclaimed.

My pussy clenched tight.

His hand left my bottom, coming down hard from the start. I told myself that I would stay quiet, that I would take this spanking with dignity because I had more than earned it.

But it was foolish to even try.