Page 84 of Tangwystle
Decorations still hung. I burst into tears.
“We tried to clean!” Gretel swore. She stood so close to me I could feel the heat of her at my back. “It’s simply some of the bigger stuff we didn’t have the time to properly deal with. And I promise you won’t have to deal with it all.”
It was true that the tables, chairs, and platters of food were all gone. But the stars continued to swirl up above us.
“Tangwystle,” Baz murmured. He placed his hands on my shoulders. My head dipped to his chest before another wave of sobs broke.
I pushed him back and noticed how his jaw clenched. I could tell he hurt just as much as I did, but that only angered me.
“I told you both to be careful!” My voice echoed in the hall. Gretel didn’t move. She’d seen me annoyed plenty of times, but never like this.
“I know,” Baz said quietly. A tiny apology.
“Wystle. . .” Gretel’s brow pinched like my tears might cause her own.
“No!” I told her. Ordered her. I did not want words. I needed something else.
Baz understood. “Would punishing us for disobeying help?”
Gretel’s lips parted, and so did mine. It was inconceivable in some ways. I had helped him discipline Gretel at times, but he offered me something so rare.
It wasn’t in Baz to submit. We might have drugged him once. But we knew we had played with fire and, better yet, wanted the consequences.
I knew then that Baz truly hurt. All three of us had experienced panic and pain last night. But Baz truly felt horrible if he willingly offered me the chance to take out my fury on him.
I realized all of this at once, yet couldn’t properly examine it in the moment. I took what I wanted, thanks to the adrenaline of the day and the swirl of emotions.
Without another word, I turned on my heel and headed up the stairs. Baz and Gretel followed.
Our bedroom door opened before I could turn the handle.
The day before had held a festive air when Gretel and I got ready for the ball. We’d had no idea how easily things would be pulled apart.
But now we were back together again.
A chair scraped against the floor. Thanks to a burst of power from the Manor, it landed in the middle of the room.
I pulled Baz toward it, the man landing roughly in the seat.
A spark of anticipation caused my belly to line with desire. Baz’s dark blue eyes never left me. The planes of his face appeared harder. His shoulders tensed as he took a deep breath and accepted his fate.
“I told you to be careful, but you never fucking listen,” I said. Gretel made a noise, and I snapped over my shoulder, “Naked. Now.”
She scurried to fulfill the request. Her dress ended up crumpled on the floor, and for once I didn’t care.
Baz vibrated as I leaned in closer, standing over him as he sat. I placed both his hands on the arms of the chair.
“Be a good girl and get some rope,” I told Gretel. She darted to the wardrobe, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, she kept some close. “Tie Baz’s hands to the chair.”
She hesitated, her eyes wavering as she looked at Baz. He nodded.
Carefully, she tied his hands, and then I told her to pull his trousers down. It left him in his button-down shirt, his cock already starting to thicken.
I whispered into his ear, my chest nearly in his face. “Your punishment is to watch.”
His breath caught. His jaw clenched, but he stayed resolute while I backed away.
“Wystle. . .” Gretel murmured.
