Page 106 of A Duchess Bound
“Eager, hm?” he asked.
“I want to fulfill my duty as your duchess,” she replied, smirking.
“I wonder if I should let you,” he mused, eyes gleaming with mischief. “You promised to submit, and you deceived me today.”
“Are you going to punish me?”
“I think I must.”
He coaxed her back onto the bed, and she shifted her way up. Dorothy kept her skirts hitched up past her waist and spread her thighs wide, exposing her aching sex to him. The evidence of her attraction wet her folds, and the heat of his eyes on her nearly undid her.
“Now, what shall I do with this?” he murmured.
Gerard crawled onto the bed and knelt between her legs. He gently stroked between her folds, and Dorothy’s back arched. She whined as her muscles all coiled tightly inside her.
“You must show a little mercy,” she said. “It is my wedding night.”
He grinned. “My poor bride, you forget that it is alsomywedding night. What if I do not want to show you mercy? Only one of us has promised to obey, if you recall.”
Dorothy’s chest heaved, her nipples rising like two tiny rosebuds from above the confines of her bodice. “That is true.”
“Perhaps, I should show you something that I have not before,” he said, undoing his cravat. Dorothy’s eyes snapped to the tantalizing sight of his throat. “Give me your wrists.”
She offered them without hesitation, and he tied them together, taking a moment to ensure that her bonds were not too tightly done. “You have done this before.”
“I am not yet finished. I must fetch something. Remain where you are and keep your hands above your head.”
She obeyed, following him with her eyes until he left the room. Dorothy strained to hear his movements, her pulse jumping in his absence. She shifted her hips, trying vainly to soothe the ache between her legs. If she lowered her arms and touched herself, Dorothy could give herself some pleasure, but Gerard had told her to keep her arms above her head.
She could disobey.Thatwas a delightful thought.
Dorothy breathed deeply, weighing the option of disobeying him. She had promised to obey, and that mattered. Besides, if she disobeyed him, he would want to punish her further.
She shivered, and her toes curled into the bed linens. What had he thought of?
He returned with a riding crop. Dorothy’s jaw dropped. “You arenot,” she said.
“You seem so scandalized,” he said, laughing.
“I am!” she exclaimed.
Gerard settled once more between her legs. “It is important to discipline one’s wife,” he said, trailing the crop up the inside of her thigh.
Dorothy tensed, clenching her buttocks. “But with a riding crop! I am not a horse!”
“Then, why do you let me mount you like one?” he quipped.
“I have never donethat!”
“Perhaps, we should trythat,” he said, matching her inflection. “Now, how many strikes is appropriate for your deception?”
“Five,” she blurted out.
Gerard raised an eyebrow. “And where have you divined that figure?”
“I learned about the deception five hours before you did.”
“Very well. Five strikes with this crop to correct your undesirable behavior.” His face softened. “If I strike you too hard, you must tell me, and I will stop at once.”
