Unexpected Consequences (3 page)

“Jared…” Melania’s muscles tightened. She dug into the curling hairs on his chest as her fingers flew fast over her clit. Her swollen pussy gripped Jared’s cock.

“Come for me, Melania,” Jared growled.

Melania felt as if she were rending into two halves as she surrendered to her body’s yearning and Jared’s command. She cried out her release as Jared shouted his. Her body still pulsing and burning, she slumped atop Jared, feeling close to tears. He caressed her back, kissed her neck and the side of her face as his still-hard cock throbbed inside her.

As sanity returned, so did her embarrassment. Her mind reeled.

Jared had spanked her!

And she had liked it! It wasn’t awful at all. Of course, Jared hadn’t been disciplining her for real, but still, he had smacked her bare bottom, and that counted as a spanking.

The act had laid to rest a dormant concern. During their engagement, she and Jared had discussed what it would mean to have Jared head their household. He’d made it clear he would spank her to enforce the rules and discipline they’d both agreed upon.

Melania couldn’t imagine ever doing anything to displease him enough that he would want to spank her, let alone follow through with it. Sure, this spanking had been more fun than discipline, but she felt confident now that in the extremely unlikely circumstance he spanked her for real, she could handle it.

Her relief coupled with the post-coital afterglow made her feel almost giddy.

Jared was caressing her pleasantly sore bottom and squeezing her cheeks. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She heard hesitation in his voice, and resting against his chest, she bobbed her head in an enthusiastic affirmative.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“The spanking? No.” She raised her head to look into his eyes to reassure him.

A small frown knit his brows. “I got a little carried away with wanting you.”

A fountain of happiness bubbled up inside her. “I like it when you get carried away,” she said. From the moment she’d met him, she’d been a moth to his flame. Whatever he wanted, she wanted.

The frown lifted from his forehead, but a tiny light of concern still glinted in his eyes. “You know, though…the spanking was pretend. It wasn’t actually serious discipline. When I discipline you for real, it will be different.”

“I know.”
If
he ever punished her, the context would be different, of course. But really, how likely was that? Melania had no worries. She could handle anything that happened.

He pressed a hard, quick kiss to her mouth. “I love you.”

Melania relaxed atop Jared and sighed with contentment.

Chapter Three

Jared parked his Mercedes at the curb, dropped a few coins into the meter, and sprinted across the street to the shoe store. He was cutting it close. Their guests would arrive in a few hours, but he’d been so busy all week, he hadn’t had an opportunity until now to get the shoes.

Melania deserved them, not only for her immediate obedience the other evening, but also because she’d worked so hard. His young wife was quite the accomplished cook, and she’d tested recipes all week to find the right ones to please his friends. She’d cleaned the house until it gleamed. Fresh flowers decorated every nook and cranny, and the dining table was readied with their wedding china and silver.

He twisted his mouth ruefully. Taking her on the dining table wasn’t an option at this point, unless he wanted to wreck her beautiful table setting and break their wedding crystal.

The bell over the door tinkled as Jared dashed inside the shop.

The same clerk stood behind the counter, texting into her cell phone. She looked up, and recognition seemed to flicker in her gaze. She tapped a few more characters, then set the phone down. “Hey,” she said.

“I’m back,” he said. “I was hoping you still have the shoes my wife liked so much. Size seven?”

The clerk’s pierced eyebrow rose.

“The red ones, with the”—he waved his hands—“the little doodad bows.”

“I remember.” A frown creased her forehead. “We don’t have the shoes anymore.”

“Damnit.” Jared sighed. “I should have come back sooner. My wife will be disappointed. Well, thank you.” He turned to leave, then stopped. “Can you order another pair?” He looked at the clerk.

The clerk blinked. “For your wife? The girl you were with the other night?”

No, for somebody else’s wife
. Jared stifled his sarcastic retort. It wasn’t the clerk’s fault. She had a lot of customers and couldn’t be expected to remember everyone. “Yes.”

“Your wife already bought them.”

He shook his head. “You must be mistaken.”

“I don’t think so. Your wife has long, dark, curly hair. Big, honking princess-cut wedding ring?” She stretched out her left hand and wiggled her ring finger.

The muscles in Jared’s face froze.

“Yeah.” The girl shrugged. “She came in a couple of days ago and bought the shoes.”

Jared’s temperature soared into the red zone. He managed to thank the clerk before striding out, a ball of fury bunching his shoulder blades. He covered the distance to his car in half the time, jerked open the door, and lowered himself inside. He fastened his hands on the steering wheel. Melania had deliberately disobeyed him and sneaked behind his back to buy the shoes.

His nostrils flared with anger as hurt clenched his chest in a tight-fisted grip.

He shook his head in dismay. He couldn’t say he hadn’t been warned. Melania’s father had told him his daughter had been a little overindulged. When Jared had asked his future father-in-law for his daughter’s hand in marriage, Conner Jackson had granted it readily but cautioned Jared that Melania needed a firm hand to control her willfulness.

“I have to accept some responsibility,”
Conner had admitted.
“While I didn’t hesitate to deliver the discipline Melania’s mother needed, I’m afraid I was too lenient on my daughter. She was such a sweet little girl, it was hard to say no to her, and sometimes she didn’t get the spankings she deserved.”

“I’ll do right by her, sir,”
Jared had assured the older man.

“I know you will, son. My wife and I are pleased Melania has met someone older and wiser who loves her and will provide her with what she needs rather than with what she wants.”

As he recalled the conversation with Conner, Jared’s hurt and anger ebbed. He didn’t doubt Melania’s love or her inherent goodness. She had a heart as big as the ocean, and she would mature into a fine wife and mother. But she needed discipline.

It was time to provide some. Jared started the engine and headed home to Melania.

* * *

Melania hobbled into the house and slipped off her new red shoes, sighing in relief as the marble tiles of the massive foyer cooled her blistered feet. It had been a stupid idea to wear the shoes to the hairdresser’s. But she couldn’t resist. They were so pretty, and it would be awhile before Jared would forget and she could wear them in his presence. The way the girls in the salon had oohed and aahed made her feel special. Unfortunately she’d been unable to find a parking space near the hairdresser and had to hoof it. The hike to and from the salon had caused the shoes to rub her feet raw in places.

Clutching the pumps in her hands, she ascended the stairs to dress for dinner.

Everything was ready for the evening’s party. The house was clean and sparkling. The wine-braised beef was roasting. She’d stuffed baked potatoes and would put them into the oven for a second baking just before the guests arrived. A tray of canapés awaited their guests in the fridge. Melania was almost ready herself. She’d showered before she left for her hair and nail appointments. A new dress hung in her closet. All she needed to do was put on her face and slip into the dress—a tight, black, slinky, one-shouldered number.

Melania stowed the shoes in an old shoebox at the back of her closet, stripped off her street clothes, and donned a silk robe over her red thong and lacy, strapless push-up bra. She sat at the vanity to do her makeup.

She’d pretty much completed the job and was smoothing gloss over her lips when she became aware of Jared leaning against the doorjamb.

“You’re home early.” She curved her lips in welcome. She turned to look at him, silently congratulating herself on her foresight to hide the contraband.

He approached her, but he didn’t return her smile, and she realized this was the first time Jared had arrived home and didn’t greet her with a kiss. She rose to her feet and arched her eyebrows with concern. “Is something wrong? Did something happen at work?”

His eyes zeroed in on her blistered heels. “What happened to your feet?”

Her stomach took a guilty dive. “I got a little blister,” she said casually, flattening her hand against her fluttering stomach. “I couldn’t find a parking space and had to walk.”

“What shoes were you wearing?”

She shrugged, avoiding his gaze. “Just a pair of heels.” As long as she stayed close to the line of truth, it wasn’t a fib. Not a big one, anyway.

“Old ones or new ones?”

“New…ish.” She lifted a shoulder.

“Which ones?” Jared crossed his arms over his chest. She sneaked a glance at his face and read the disbelief in his laserlike gaze.

Damnit, he
knew
. But how could he know? The quickening in her stomach turned to tumbling, and she decided she’d better come clean. She stifled a sigh. She hoped this wouldn’t turn into an argument. It would make for an awkward, tense evening. “I decided to go ahead and buy the shoes.”

“Which shoes are those?” he asked with infuriating persistence.

“The red ones,” she muttered.

“The ones I specifically told you not to buy?”

Annoyance flared. Jared was her husband, the head of their small family, but he wasn’t her boss. “Yes, Lord and Master, the ones you told me not to buy,” she snapped. She threw her hands into the air. “Are you happy now?” She planted her fists on her hips.

“Is that how you show respect? With sarcasm?” A dangerous edge entered his voice.

“I’m sorry.” She huffed the insincere apology.

“You’re sorry you got caught, maybe, but I don’t believe you’re sorry you defied my wishes.”

“It was only a pair of shoes.” She refused to feel guilty. They could afford them, and what right did he have to dictate whether she could buy a pair of shoes, anyway? “I’m a grown woman. If I want to buy a pair of shoes, I shouldn’t have to ask permission.” She tightened the belt of her robe.

Jared shook his head. “No, generally you don’t have to ask permission to buy something you need or want. But I had a reason for telling you no, and since I did, you should have obeyed my request.”

“So what was your reason?” Her gaze collided with his.

“That’s immaterial now.” He glanced at her feet. “Put on the shoes you bought, and meet me in my study. Right now.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not done.” He turned to leave.

She shivered in apprehension. His steely-eyed expression, the stern slash of his mouth made her nervous. This wasn’t tender, indulgent Jared. This was lay-down-the-law Jared. “I have to finish getting dressed first.” She stalled.

“No. Come as you are.” Jared stopped in the doorway. “Tomorrow you’re going to return those shoes to the store for a refund.”

“But they won’t take them back,” she sputtered. “They’ve been worn. The soles are scuffed.”

“Then you’ll donate them to charity.” He stalked out of the bathroom.

Melania retrieved her shoes and collapsed onto the vanity bench. Her heart was thumping, and her stomach was upset. She and Jared had just gone head-to-head in the first fight of their new marriage. Unfortunately it wasn’t over. She shouldn’t have sneaked behind his back, but he shouldn’t have refused her. He acted like he had been testing her.

He hadn’t shouted, but he was angry. Perversely, his self-control seemed more ominous than if he had ranted and raved. She felt as if she’d entered the eye of a hurricane. Things appeared calm, but the air crackled with a dangerous energy. She did not want to meet Jared in his office, but she didn’t dare disobey. You could push a man only so far.

Melania wedged her feet into her shoes and gasped when she took a step. The shoes seared her feet like sandpaper rubbing a raw wound. She removed the shoes. Carrying them, she hurried to meet Jared.

His study door was closed. She knocked twice quietly, hoping he wouldn’t hear and she could tiptoe away while still fulfilling the letter of Jared’s law. She’d reported as ordered. It wasn’t her fault if he didn’t hear.

“Come.” His voice, though muffled, was too audible to ignore.

Damn. Melania took a deep breath, turned the handle, and pushed open the heavy paneled door to find her husband bent over his leather-and-wood valet thingy. They had received the unusual stand as a wedding gift from the Rod and Cane Society, but she didn’t know what the piece was. She assumed it was a guy thing. A man toy. The valet’s wide, padded leather seat rested atop four mahogany legs, reminding her of a gymnastics pommel horse. Its height could be adjusted by removing wooden pegs in the legs, as Jared was doing now.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Put your shoes on, please.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why, but she figured her question would annoy him further, so she eased her feet into the shoes.

Jared lowered the leather seat of the valet, then flipped a release, allowing a squared metal ring to pop out of a hidden panel at the base of each leg. She’d never noticed that before.

Melania’s breath caught in her throat as Jared strode from the horse to his large desk, unlocked a drawer, and removed a paddle and four fleece-padded leather bands with buckles. Her heart fluttered as if a hummingbird were caught in her chest cavity. Surely he wasn’t going to—

Her memory flashed to her childhood when she had been particularly naughty and her mother had told her to wait in her room for her father, the one who meted out discipline. She’d hidden under the bed. Her father had found her and administered extra swats to her behind for attempting to avoid punishment. The anxiety that skittered through her now was similar to that time. Jared couldn’t seriously be intending to spank her! Sure, they had discussed his right to correct her behavior through corporal discipline—but only if needed and as a last resort. All she’d done was buy a pair of shoes. Surely that didn’t warrant a spanking!