Dealing With Discipline (6 page)

Shrugging one shoulder elegantly, she tipped
up her nose at him. “Perhaps your wife was not so interested in
spending the morning with you.”

Now Edwin began walking around the
desk and Eleanor swiftly began walking in the other direction,
keeping the distance between them. He stopped immediately,
scowling. He even looked attractive doing that. Attractive and
foreboding. Her heart was starting to beat faster, a prelude to
passion… or a warning of imminent danger.

“And why might that be?” he asked. Eleanor
noted the fists clenched at his sides, the way the tendons stood
out in his neck above his cravat. It sounded like his teeth were
actually grinding together and yet he did not continue to chase
her, he just stood there and asked questions as if he expected her
to behave illogically, expected her to be a brat.

So she threw all caution to the wind and put
her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes as if in exasperation. His
own lack of reaction, his self-control, was feeding her
impulsiveness, making her reckless.

“Why must we
always be arm in arm? Other couples amongst the
ton
aren’t like that. Grace didn’t
even come to the wedding today because Lord Brooke was there. Why
must you always follow me around?”

“It seemed to me that originally
you wanted a husband who would follow you around,” he accused in a
silky voice, his eyes hard as he began to circle around the desk
again. Staring back at him, heart fluttering in her throat, Eleanor
was unsure whether she felt fear or arousal as she began to move,
doing her best to keep the desk between them. “A husband who would
beg for your attention. Is that what you’re doing Eleanor? Trying
to make me into your puppy dog, to follow and beg for you? You
think to teach me to do tricks?”

“N-n-n-o,” she stuttered. She
certainly had never thought that she’d be able to make Edwin into
the kind of husband that she’d originally wanted, that her other
suitors would have made. Or had she? Was that what she had been
trying to prove today? There had been something immensely
satisfying about making Edwin follow her all around the room,
something she would have never expected to be able to force her
confident, elegant husband to do. Even if he had stopped the chase
once her father had sat her down. She was suddenly confused,
wondering if she’d truly thought through her tactics.

Now he was chasing her again, but in closed
quarters with no one around. A much more volatile situation, one
almost guaranteed not to go her way. And yet… she felt almost
excited by it. Excited and frightened. This, like so many of her
other plans, was not going her way. She could see that this little
game of cat and mouse was rousing Edwin’s passions, he was looking
at her the same way he did before he undressed her at night, but
she already knew that he desired her. The goal had been to discover
what softer feelings he might have for her.

Frustrated, Edwin stopped stalking her and
planted his hands on the desk. “Come here Nell.”

“No.” She backed further away,
feeling even more contrary now that this plan – like so many others
– had been frustrated. They’d rotated around the room so that she
was now closer to the door and Edwin was behind the desk with his
back to the windows. Her backwards momentum was stymied when she
ran into one of the bookshelves and she put out a hand to steady
herself.

His voice lowered, almost coaxing, although no
less dangerous for its gentleness. “Come here Eleanor.”

“NO.” Frustrated she practically
threw the word at him. She didn’t want passion, or she did, but she
that wasn’t her goal at the moment and she didn’t want to be
distracted. Her emotions were chaotic, frustrated, and she was
acting out of sheer instinct at this point.

“Eleanor I’m
tired of this game.” Edwin’s dark eyes skewered her, accusing,
almost hurt and it ripped at her, but she couldn’t make herself go
to him. She couldn’t give in. That’s what her mother would do,
wanting to soothe the man she loved, whatever the cost to herself.
But Eleanor wasn’t her mother and if Edwin knew how much she cared,
the way her father did, and still discarded her or sent her off to
live in the country without him, like her father did with her
mother, she could not bear it. Better he not know. Better she keep
something back from him until she knew if she could trust him with
her heart. “
Come here.
”

“Why can’t you just leave me
alone?” she practically wailed, a sentiment straight from her
heart. She didn’t meant that she wanted him to leave her alone
really, just that she couldn’t take much more of this uncertainty
about his feelings towards her. That right at this moment, she
couldn’t bear to have him force her to reveal her feelings by
coming to him when she had no idea whether they were returned. It
felt as if she was standing on a precipice and he was urging her to
jump, without promising that he would be there to catch
her.

He jerked as if she’d slapped him, looking
incredibly startled. Who knew what would have happened then, how he
might have reacted, if Eleanor hadn’t been so far gone in her own
torrent of emotions that she did something monumentally
stupid.

Grasping the first thing that came
to hand, an ornamental bookend on the shelf she’d been grasping,
she threw it at him. Right at his stubborn, incomprehensible,
unreadable head.

Her aim had always been good and
it was only his quick reflexes that allowed him to duck out of the
way. Watching in horror as the heavy wooden decoration flew across
the room, Eleanor’s hands covered her mouth as she stared in shock.
Edwin whirled back around to stare at her as the bookend clattered
to the floor behind him. She didn’t think, she just whirled around
and ran.

*******

Being on the opposite side of the
room from his wife, with the desk in his way, had not been the best
positioning, Edwin thought grimly as he stalked after his fleeing
wife. She’d managed to get out the door and partway down the hall
before he was able to come barreling out of the room after her. But
he refused to run. Already there was a maid standing in the hall,
staring open-mouthed after her mistress. He would not run after
her… besides, his long strides, unhampered by skirts, made him move
fast enough to keep her in his sights.

What on earth had possessed her?

His heart clenched as he wondered
why she wanted him to leave her alone. What was wrong? Was it her
monthlies? No… that had happened while they were still in Paris, it
wasn’t time yet. Was it resentment over the fact that Hugh’s
wedding had been much more what she’d wanted than their own small
ceremony?

It bothered him more than he
wished to admit that to think she was more interested in the
trappings of a wedding celebration than in their union as husband
and wife.

Whatever her reasons, he
wished she had just talked to him instead of making her chase him.
Not once, not twice, but
three
times now today. This time with their staff
staring after them. His muscles burned as he stretched his legs as
much as possible, doing his best to keep up with her without
actually running. Damned if he was going to give up the last bit of
dignity left to him.

Where the devil was she heading?
She was going towards the back of the house, turning corners,
almost as if she was trying to trip him up and lose him.

Edwin began to pick up the pace,
jogging after her, cursing under his breath. At this point it
didn’t matter the reason, when he got his hands on her he was going
to blister her bottom. Not just for her attitude towards him or her
lack of communication, as frustrating as that was, but he couldn’t
allow her to actually throw things at him and then run without
there being some kind of repercussion for such behavior. Although
thinking about disciplining her was not assisting his pursuit of
his wife, because of his inevitable reaction to thinking about
turning her creamy little bottom a dark, hot red.

He’d already been somewhat aroused
in the library, almost enjoying the contest of wills between them.
So had she, despite the way things had ended. He was able to read
her body language enough to know that she had been fighting her
rising desire.

Ignoring his amorous thoughts,
Edwin abandoned his dignity and began to run, determined to end the
chase. Hearing his pounding footsteps approaching, Eleanor glanced
over her shoulder and squeaked, blue eyes big with anxiety, and
darted to one of the servants’ staircases. The one leading to the
kitchens.

He caught her about five running steps into
the kitchen, startling Cook and her assistants as they were washing
and peeling vegetables for dinner that night. The staff stared at
their master and mistress, shocked to see them disheveled,
red-faced and out of breath.

“Everyone out,” Edwin said, his
tone flat, tight.  Still in command, no matter the
situation. 

Eleanor whimpered, a barely
audible sound under the sudden rush of footsteps hurrying from the
room.  Fortunately it was too early in the afternoon for
anything to actually be cooking, so the temperature of the room was
fairly reasonable.  He kept one firm arm around her waist as
the staff fled, enjoying the feel of his wife pressed up against
him, her soft bottom snug against his groin, her every breath
panted against his restraining arm.  Trying to distract
himself from his desire to bend her over the table in front of them
and sink into her immediately, his eyes wandered around the room,
landing on a large wooden spoon and he grinned, hit by sudden
inspiration.

Quickly he wiped the expression
off of his face.  No matter how much he might enjoy punishing
his wife, the truth was she very much deserved it and it would not
do for her to think anything otherwise.  He truly was quite
angry with her, but he was relieved that he could also find
something to smile about in the situation.  While he had every
right to be angry, he would not punish Eleanor unless he was in
control of himself and his emotions. 

Which, thanks to the minute it
took for the kitchen to empty and his male interest to completely
rouse, he was able to reign in his temper. 

"Edwin," she said in a shaky
voice, practically trembling in his grip.  If she hadn't just
thrown something rather heavy at his head, unprovoked, less than
ten minutes before he might have felt some pity for her.
“I-I-“

"Bend over the counter Eleanor,"
he said in a cold voice as he released her and put his hand in the
small of her back, pushing her forward.  She stumbled and he
moved to catch her but she righted herself quickly enough.
 Still, she turned around fast enough to see that he had
positioned himself to help her, before he snapped himself back into
place and looked down at her.  Those big blue eyes were filled
with what looked like true remorse and a few tears. She took in the
expression on his face, the determination, and silently, slowly
turned back around, facing away from him. 

Placing her hands on the counter,
she lowered her upper body onto it, biting her lip.  This was
going to be her first real punishment since their honeymoon and she
knew that it was going to hurt... so why was her heart thumping
with excitement? Why did the area between her legs fell swollen and
wet?  What kind of woman was Edwin turning her
into?

"Very good," Edwin murmured,
pleased that Eleanor hadn't protested or tried to talk her way out
of being disciplined.  Although, of course, she'd already
tried to run and been caught so perhaps he shouldn't be too
impressed with her current obedience, but it did give him a thrill
that she'd meekly bent herself over the counter before him. "Now
reach across and hold onto the other side."

It was at just the right height
that she had to go up on her tip toes to truly be able to put her
weight onto the surface.  By obeying his order for her to
reach across, she was actually placing the full weight of her body
on the counter, her legs dangling down so that her toes were barely
brushing the floor. 

“Edwin, I’m sorry,” she said,
quite truthfully. The chase had worn down her chaotic emotions and
now all she felt was guilt and regret. “I don’t know what came over
me. I didn’t mean to lose my temper that way, I’ll never throw
anything at you ever again.”

“No, no you won’t,” he said softly
as he tucked up her skirts around her hips. He laughed softly at
what he discovered. “No drawers, Nell? Are you sure you didn’t
anticipate this?” Eleanor whimpered but didn’t answer as she felt
the air of the kitchen on her bare thighs and bottom, unsure if she
was whimpering from fright or arousal. She could practically feel
the heat of her husband’s gaze on her private areas, knowing that
they were basically in a public room where anyone could walk in at
any minute, adding to the illicitness of the situation. “Is that
all you’re sorry for?”

Her fingers tightened around the
edge of the countertop. Of course, he wanted an apology for her
behavior at the wedding that morning.

“No,” she said. “I’m also very
sorry for making you chase me around the wedding brunch this
morning. And around the house just now.”

“Hmm,” he said as he picked up the
wooden spoon, knowing that she couldn’t see what he was doing. “You
don’t sound very sorry about this morning. But I believe I know how
to fix that.”