I shrug and point to her. Let it be her choice. That way she has no one to blame but herself.
 
 Kingston chuckles, amusement washing over his features because he knows exactly what I want. “He thinks you should decide your own punishment.”
 
 She scowls, then a sarcastic response rolls off her lips. “You may as well treat me like a child and spank me, then, I guess.”
 
 Amused, I grin, nodding my approval as I hold up one of my hands and smack it with the other.
 
 Her face falls. “Wait. I was kidding.”
 
 I open the door to my room and gesture that everyone should enter.
 
 “You’ll find we—what’d you call us earlier?Crazy bastards?—don’t take so well to kidding around here when we’re discussing punishment.” Archer chuckles darkly, then heads in first. Kingston gives Elliot a moment to enter on her own, but when she doesn’t, he cups his hands under her armpits, picks her up, and steps into the room. I follow, shutting and locking the door behind us. This is nothing the rest of the brotherhood gets to see.
 
 I don’t bother with the overhead lights or even the ones at the bedside. There’s a dim glow coming from the en suite where I must have left one on, and it’s plenty to see by. Kingston sets her down, then crosses the room to the end of my bed and has a seat. He crooks his finger at her, and I see the hesitation in her eyes—we all do—as she finally figures out who’s in charge of the game we’re playing. Spoiler alert: it’s not her. “Come here”—his lips twist—“unless you’d like to break rule three as well.”
 
 Sucking in a sharp breath, she puts one foot in front of the other until she’s standing before him. I glance at Archer and can totally tell he’s digging this. He would. This is right up his alley. In unison, we move around to either side of Kingston so we can better see whatever he decides to do. He widens the stance of his legs, tucks his pointer finger into her waistband, and tugs her closer.
 
 She shakes her head. “Please…”
 
 “Please?” His voice drops, lower and rougher than usual, which is already deep and gruff. “How much does staying here mean to you,MissElliot Ashford?”
 
 Her lips press together, and she stares off past his head at the wall behind him. Her words are whispered but sure. “I want to be here more than anything.”
 
 Kingston doesn’t say a word, but agonizingly slowly, he pops the button on her jeans and drags the zipper down. Hot-pink panties are revealed, a sexy, lacy confection I’d like to tear from her body with my teeth. Kingston bites back a growl before he hooks his fingers onto the waistband of the jeans at her hips and strips them down to her knees.
 
 Archer and I shift at the same time, taking in the view of the dick-hardening display of flesh, the barely-there fabric of her thong visible at the crack of her ass. My eyes follow the lace until it disappears between those luscious, round cheeks. I drag air roughly into my lungs at the same time Archer utters a breathy “Fuuuck,” palming his dick and rubbing slowly. He’s definitely turned on, and we’ve hardly gotten started. He groans, as if in pain, attracting Elliot’s attention.
 
 She turns her head, and a quiet, “Oh,” drops from her lips. But I notice—and I’m sure he does too—she doesn’t look away. Her dark eyes are pinned to the movement of his hand.
 
 I’m used to interesting behavior from Archer. He’s our resident voyeur. He catches you somewhere in the act, you’d better believe he’s watching every dirty second of the action. Which… kinda makes it hotter if you ask me. Anyway, I’ve never had a problem with it. And if he wants to try his hand—pun intended—at some exhibitionist behavior now, who am I to argue? Our girl, here, doesn’t seem to mind either. It’s not until Kingston guides her into position over his lap that she looks away. It’s as if she was so lost in observing him to the point where she forgot what was about to happen to her.
 
 She glances back at me for a split second, but it’s enough to catch the flush of her face and a slight quiver of her lip. That lush ass sticking up in the air is almost too much for me. I feel my pulse quicken as I study her, my gaze fixating on the scrap of pink fabric between her legs. So fucking hot. Resting my hands on my hips, I look to Kingston, and he raises his brows.
 
 I nod.
 
 That’s when he sets his big hand on her plump cheeks. It’s jarring to see his hand there—not mine—but also incredibly hot. Blood rushes from my head while I wait for him to begin. I think he’s moving slowly to draw it out, to make it more agonizing for her. Goddamn, it’s delicious the way her butt muscles clench involuntarily as he rubs his hand over her.
 
 And then he lifts his hand and brings it down, delivering a hard smack that has her crying out. The noise of the initial slap and her subsequent response echoes off the walls of the high-ceilinged room. Fuck, I’m going to think of this moment every time I come into this bedroom for the remainder of the year.
 
 “I’m going to spank you twice more, and then we’ll give Archer a turn. How about that?”
 
 Her eyes are a bit wild, but strangely, she doesn’t say no. She doesn’t complain. She simply nods.
 
 Not good enough. I know Kingston, and he won’t like it.
 
 “What was that?”Crack.His hand comes down on the fleshy part of her left cheek.
 
 She winces, then stutters out, “Y-yes, sir.”
 
 “Good girl.” He lands another hard smack, only this time to the right cheek.
 
 Shemoans.
 
 Did that really happen, or am I hearing things? My eyes dart from her rapidly reddening bare ass to Kingston, and then to Archer, who creeps forward and bends at the waist. With one hand propped on his knee and the other tilting her head so he can peer into her eyes, he asks, “Peaches? Do you like to be spanked?”
 
 From this side, I observe her clenching her thighs together, her entire body beginning to tremble. “I-I—” She exhales harshly. “I don’t know.”
 
 Kingston’s hand rubs over her warmed skin, and his laugh comes out in a low rumble. “Well, we’re not done yet, so maybe we’ll find out. Archer?” He glances at our friend, who shakes his head.