Page 78 of His to Take

“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 moreapparent. 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 wasstanding 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 youneed. 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.

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